A Legacy of Stars
by Vulcan Wolf
Summary: The idea for this fic came from a prompt asking for Star Wars/Star Trek x-over. This is the result. Jim Kirk is, by necessity of birth, a Skywalker. By default of that fact, he is engaged in the events of Episode IV-VI. R&R, con-crit okay, flames are NOT.
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Jim Kirk didn't need a computer to tell him the ice-world Spock had marooned him on was unsafe, that was just a given. He could have sworn he was the only living thing on this pathetic excuse for an M-Class planet, but that turned out to be a wrong assumption when Jim stumbled across an ice-creature attacking something _else_. What madness drove him, Jim had no idea, but he yelled and hollered and waved his arms to get the thing's attention. It turned on him and Jim gulped.

"Oh shit." It was big, _really _big. Jim turned around and ran. He didn't have much of a head-start and wasn't sure if he was supposed to be _grateful _when a weird thing, he positively identified a drakoulias in the two seconds he had to get out of the way, went at it with the thing following him. While the drakoulias duked it out with the other thing, whatever _it _was, Jim scrambled across the ice and practically tripped over a body. It took him a minute to realize the other person was only unconscious, and hurt bad. Jim, thinking on his feet and really having no desire to become _anything_'s next meal, pulled a pistol from the other man's belt, attached a flare-tip, and prayed to whatever god took mercy on the foolish as he pulled the trigger. The flare arched high and burst into a shower of red and orange sparks.

* * *

The drakoulias must have won the fight, it was coming back. Jim, on the verge of sheer panic, scrambled to his feet and drew his phaser, setting the weapon to kill. Taking aim, he said another prayer and fired three shots. It took four before the damn thing would go down, and Jim sank to his knees, gasping for breathe.

"Oh _god_ I'm fucked." he looked over his shoulder. He crawled over to the other boy, he was definitely Human, and collapsed, "Please let there be someone out here." Jim had enough common sense to realize the other kid could freeze to death before help showed up, and went to the slain creature he'd apparently been riding, digging through the gear for a tent, blankets, _something_ to use. He also had to move the kid, they were right between three dead things that were sure to attract other hungry things. Jim dragged the other kid across the ice until he was sure they would be safe, and pitched camp. He got a storm-shelter up, thanking the Academy for offering classes on surviving on nothing at all, a handful of gear if you were lucky to have any. Once he had the tent up, Jim covered the other boy with thermal-blankets after removing as much of his heavy snow-gear as was feasible. He also nailed him a shot of adrenaline and something else to ward off infection, the claw-marks on his face looked nasty. The kid was slow coming around, so Jim dug out a dermal regenerator and cleaned up a little. Once Jim had done everything he reasonably could, and it wasn't much, he settled in and watched for some sign of life. The kid was a lot like him, no slow return to conscious just get it all at once.

"Ngh! Huh!" The kid sat bolt upright, eyes wild and unfocused, and Jim just smiled.

"Ah, he lives. Welcome back to the hellish world of the living, brother." He folded his arms over his knees and waited for the kid to get his head on straight, he knew exactly how he was feeling.

"W-where are we?"

"I'm sorry to say we're both still trapped on this little frozen hell, I'm not quite sure what it's called, and this is _your _tent. Rather nice, actually, kinda cozy considering the blizzard howling outside."

"Oh." The kid turned to him and Jim gulped. Whoa, _that _was a little weird. Just a tad like looking at a mirror, a warped mirror. Huh?

"Uhh…hmm." Jim rubbed the back of his neck, "That's interesting. What's your name?"

"I'm, uh, Luke Skywalker. Who are you?"

"Jim Kirk. Uh, full name's James T."

"Where did you come from?"

"Earth. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you've never heard of it?"

"No, I haven't. What kind of place is Earth?"

"A _lot _nicer than wherever we are right now. Warmer."

"It sounds like a nice place. Did you grow up there?"

"Yeah, it's home enough. Not that…well, where I came from, I didn't leave behind a whole lot worth missing." Jim shrugged. Luke, his odd doppelganger, frowned.

"I know how that feels. You leave everything behind and try not to think about it ever again."

"I wouldn't say _that_, but…yeah. I sure don't want to go _back _to Iowa. Where'd you come from?"

"Tatooine."

"Never heard of it."

"I guess we're even." Luke smiled, it was Jim's smile. Same smile, same blue eyes, same blonde hair. Was this kid his long-lost twin brother or something? Jim sighed and pulled out the tri-corder, wondering if he was allowed to feel _this _much relief that everything came back normal.

"What's that?"

"This? It's a tri-corder, a bio-scanner. I couldn't tell you exactly what it does, I'm not a doctor."

"Your technology is different."

"It should be." Jim looked up, "I'm thinking I belong to a different reality from yours, or at the least a different galaxy. Things have been real screwy the last twenty-four hours, that wouldn't surprise me."

"Do you really think that?"

"I don't know what else it would _be_. You've never heard of Earth, I've never heard of Tatooine, and despite the fact I clearly saw a drakoulias, I _don't _think this is Delta Vega."

"No. This is Hoth."

"Like I said. _Not _Delta Vega, which makes it hard for _me _to get back where I need to go." Jim sighed and tossed aside the tri-corder, "Damn it." It got quiet in the tent, and when he looked, Jim saw that Luke had drifted off to sleep. He smiled and pulled out extra blankets, using his heavy jacket for padding. The wind howling outside the tent was background noise as Jim drifted off to sleep, following Luke's example.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Jim had no idea what time it was when he felt something move behind him. A warm hand pressed between his shoulder blades and he exhaled slowly. It was just Luke. Jim smiled into the darkness of the tent as Luke got comfortable behind him and it grew quiet again.

"Are you okay with this?"

"Yeah, this is okay." He closed his eyes and listened to the slightly labored breathing that hit warm against the back of his neck, "Are _you _okay?"

"Lungs are cold. _All _of me's cold." Luke murmured, trying to get as close as humanly possible. Jim rolled over to face Luke and reached for the blanket, dragging it up so it covered their heads.

"Body-heat escapes through your head, that's part of the problem." It was warm in the little cocoon, and Jim knew they were real close, he could feel Luke's breath across his lips. As it grew warmer, Luke's breathing became less labored and more even. That was good. Jim relaxed and closed his eyes, drifting between wakefulness and sleep. Luke, seeking the most contact, laid one arm around his waist and his head against Jim's shoulder. Soft, steady breath rushed past his neck and Jim just smiled. He finally drifted off to sleep, sparing _just _a thought for the reality he'd left behind for this one.

* * *

Jim's watch read 0800 when he heard something outside.

"Hngh." He tried to move, but having rolled onto his stomach in the night, Luke had rolled ontop of him and half-pinned him to the ground. Jim raised his head, listening. Suddenly, Luke was awake.

"Do you hear that?"

"Yeah."

"Get dressed!" Luke scrambled, dragging on his cold-weather gear. Jim followed, staggering out of the tent as he fought with the clasps of his jacket. Two aircraft, skimmers of some kind, landed nearby. Luke greeted their pilots, explained circumstances, and they were taken home to Echo Base. Jim, to his surprise, was not treated as an enemy. After a chat with those in command, he was given free reign of the place. Luke got him an orange flight-suit, promised him an X-wing, and wished him luck. Wandering the hangar, Jim passed by a beat-up freighter that looked like it had seen a few rough times. He stood back to look at it, wondering if it could even get off the ice.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" He looked up to see an older man standing on the roof.

"You're Jim, right?"

"Yeah. You're Han?"

"Got that right, kid. You any good with mechanics?"

"I took a few engineering classes, does that count?"

"Get up here and make yourself useful." Okay then. Jim shrugged and boarded the decrepit freighter, making his way to the roof-hatch, in the process bypassing a huge mamillian alien nine feet tall. It didn't hurt him, but it still startled him.

"Whoa!" Jim climbed onto the roof, "What's the fuzzball?"

"That's Chewie, he's pretty harmless. You look enough like Luke he'd never lay a paw to ya." the scruffy pilot, General Han Solo, grinned at him and tossed him a tool-kit, "Come 'ere, kid, I need a hand or two."

"Sure." Jim shrugged, wondered what the hell Chewie _was_, and why looking like Luke made him safe. For the next couple hours, Jim worked on the Millenium Falcon, chatting with Han and occasionally with Chewie. Luke came by with a pretty girl he remembered as Leia, _Princess _Leia. He'd never actually been introduced to her, so this was a first. He left the Falcon to make a good impression.

"So you're James Kirk?"

"Jim, ma'am. Just call me Jim, or Jamie."

"Huh. I guess we owe you for saving Luke's life out there."

"Nah." Jim shrugged, knowing he wouldn't be around long enough to _get _a reward.

"Well, thank you anyway." Leia surprised him with a kiss on the cheek, "Luke's very special to me, I didn't get any sleep at all last night."

"Oh…y-you're welcome." Jim, usually so smooth with the ladies, actually stammered. Leia smiled and took off, then, leaving him staring longingly after.

"Wow."

"Oh boy, you've got it bad." Luke chuckled, causing Jim to blush.

"I happen to have a healthy appreciation for the exceptionally beautiful of the fairer sex." He said a little more sharply than strictly necessary. Luke, bless him, didn't take any offense to it.

* * *

Not long after, Jim was scrambling into the cockpit of a snow-speeder. They trusted him with one of these things? Jim couldn't help but think of how much _time _he was wasting! His gunner was a happy-go-lucky kid who reminded him a little of Chekov, which made Jim homesick. For the sake of continuity, Jim was answering to the call-sign of Rogue Six today. Once they were airborne, Jim kept his com-channel open to the squadron frequency at all times. When he saw what they were up against, he experienced just a brief pang of fear before he realized these AT-AT Walkers were nowhere _near _as bad as the Narada. It only got bad when Luke's speeder went down trailing smoke, flattened moments later by a passing Walker.

"Luke!" Jim yelled, _Brother!_

_I'm okay, Jamie! I'm okay, keep going!_

_Thank god!_ Jim pulled up and went in for another run. Luke was safe, for the moment alive, he couldn't ask for anything else. When they got to the rendezvous, he waited behind for Luke. Jim leaned against the ladder of his fighter, "What, do you make it a point of seeing how many times you can get yourself _killed_, Luke? Jesus, give me a heart-attack."

"I'm sorry."

"You're alive. You're lucky and you're stupid, but you're alive. Where to?"

"_I'm _going to Dagobah."

"Where's that?"

"I have no idea."

"And yet…that's where we're _going_?" Jim climbed his ladder, "Boy, I thought _I _was crazy and reckless."

"I'm not asking you to come with me, Jim."

"I know, but I've got nowhere else to _go_, and there's a good chance this Yoda can help _me _get home." Jim dropped into his cockpit and studied the controls. He'd never flown one of these before, it would be a new experience. He followed Luke out of Hoth's orbit, bypassing two massive ships that still had nothing on the Narada.

"Uh, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"What are _those_?"

"Imperial Star Destroyers. Don't get too close."

"Wow." He kept his distance, "I thought the Narada was big." They escaped the Star Destroyers and set course for Dagobah. Jim honestly wondered if he was losing his mind. He didn't remember signing up for crazy adventures like _this _when he enlisted in Starfleet at the behest of Captain Pike. Oh well.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The trip to Dagobah was noneventful, getting there wasn't the problem. Once they actually _got _there, that's when it got dicey. None of Jim's sensors worked, guidance was useless, and all he could do was hang on and steer, hoping he wouldn't crash-land in a swamp. Jim didn't crash in a swamp, but Luke did. Jim sighed and stood on the shoreline, watching him come to dry land, "_That _was graceful."

"How did you get the dry landing?"

"Dumb luck? I kept my fingers crossed I wouldn't land in a swamp. Sorry you did." Jim put an arm around Luke's shoulders, "Let's find this Yoda and get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, I hear ya. What are we looking for?"

"I just know we're supposed to be looking for some guy named Yoda. Some powerful Jedi Master or somethin'."

"Oh, _that's _great." Luke rolled his eyes. Their co-pilot droids whistled pitifully.

"Man, if they're saying that coming here was a bad idea, I'm starting to agree with them." Jim looked around. Something about this swamp-world had him on edge. They found a decently dry place to pitch camp and tried to map out plans for finding Yoda. They shouldn't have bothered, Yoda found _them _about an hour later. Jim got one good look at the bizarre little alien who had a habit of speaking backwards, and put one hand on Luke's wrist, looking at his only friend in this reality.

_Luke, I think this is Yoda._

_But…Yoda's a great Jedi Master, a warrior!_

_Would you just _trust _me on this one? _Jim squeezed. Luke relented and backed off.

"Hmm." Yoda's ears twitched, "Stronger than I expected."

"Are you Yoda?"

"Yes, I am. Who are _you_?"

"I'm James Kirk, this is Luke Skywalker. We were sent to find you by Obi-Wan Kenobi." Who had only once visited Jim in a bizarre dream that night in the tent. Jim swore the alien smiled.

"So it _is _true! Come, we must talk!" Yoda chuckled and vanished into the mist, leaving Luke and Jim to stare at each other.

"Okay, then. That was certifiably bizarre." Jim shrugged, "Well, follow the crazy little alien."

"What was he talking about?"

"No idea. Boy, if I ever have a minute to _breathe_, I'll be happy." Jim took the lead and they followed Yoda to a tiny mud hut where he fed them swamp stew that, to someone who hadn't _eaten _in forty-eight hours, actually tasted pretty good. Jim set down his empty bowl and leaned his elbows on his knees.

"Master Yoda?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I…am I a Skywalker?" he had to know, they both deserved to know. Yoda sighed sadly and looked at him, then at Luke.

"Yes, a Skywalker…you are one. You share the same father, but a clone of Anakin Skywalker was _your _father." Yoda looked sadly at Jim, which made him feel bad for something he hadn't done, "Does he live?"

"No, he died when I was a few years old. I never knew my father."

"Neither did I. We're twins?" Luke asked that question.

"No, you are not twins. But you are _a _twin."

"So much for being an only child." Luke made a face, "I knew it."

"I have to get home before Nero destroys everything else." Jim shook his head, "I can't stay here, Master, can you get me home?"

"You can get home without my help."

"But…"

"No! Get home without my help!" Yoda frowned at him, "Faith, Skywalker! Faith!" After dinner, Jim and Luke went back to the fighters and Jim headed for home. He found Delta Vega on a star-chart, set course, and headed for home. It took mere hours, but Jim soon entered orbit around Delta Vega. The emptiness of space only made the echoes of the voices in his head louder. No one on the Enterprise knew what the destruction of Vulcan had done to him, how he had heard hundreds, thousands of voices, crying out as one voice, in terror, in fear, in pain, then…absolute nothingness. Silence and emptiness. Jim set up to land, touching down near an ice-cave that looked faintly promising. Finding shelter in the cave, he looked for somewhere to lay down. It was cold, but he was exhausted. Jim curled up on the ice and fell asleep. With any luck, he wouldn't have to deal with nightmares.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Delta Vega/Hoth

Spock was not surprised to find the boy asleep on the ice, considering the commotion he'd heard a moment ago. Peering out of the cave, he saw a one-man fighter-craft of a kind he had only seen but rarely. A little co-pilot droid sat under the wing, whistling pitifully. Spock smiled and beckoned to the machine, "Come inside, small thing. I think your master is in here." The droid trundled in and stopped beside the boy, whistling and chirping softly, almost tenderly. Spock just picked the boy up and carried him further into the cave. Despite all appearances, he _knew _this was Jim Kirk.

* * *

When Jim woke up again, he thought for a brief moment he was back on Hoth. He fought to sit up, looking around wildly.

"Luke!" It was a whisper of a name. Squeezing his eyes shut, Jim leaned forward and put his arms on his knees, "Ugh!"

"Well, _that _didn't change at all." A friendly, warm voice he didn't recognize startled Jim. He turned his head and stared across a small fire at the elderly Vulcan sitting on the other side. Jim frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"You're James T. Kirk, if I'm not mistaken."

"How do you know my name?"

"I have been and always shall be your friend."

"That wasn't my question, old man. I've had a hell of a weird experience, I'm not even sure it was _real _or not." Jim rubbed his forehead, "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I am Spock. Your friend."

"Huh. The only Spock _I _know marooned me here." Jim rested his chin on his knees, "At least, I _think _he marooned me here. He did _something_, kicked me off the Enterprise for mutiny. They're probably a long way from here."

"You are not the captain?" the old man seemed puzzled, if not disappointed.

"Uh, no. You are. Captain Pike's a hostage, he left you in charge."

"Then we must get you back as soon as possible."

"They're so far out of the system it wouldn't even be _worth _it!" Jim covered his face, and for some really weird reason missed his brother. What was Luke _doing_ right now?

"What are you thinking?"

"I have a brother."

"Sam?"

"No." Jim shook his head, "Not Sam." He sighed, "God, my head hurts. I've been all these places and met all these people, and I'm not even sure if they're _real _or not." He remembered the AT-AT's, the drakoulias and the wampa, spending a night with Luke Skywalker on the ice of Hoth, fixing up the old Millenium Falcon with Han Solo, that suicide run that had actually _worked_, escaping to Dagobah, meeting Yoda, and leaving Luke behind to come home and save the world. Spock, it had to be Spock, showed Jim exactly where he'd come from and where Nero and the Romulans had come from, and why they had done all of the awful things already executed.

"Jim?"

"Hmm?"

"We need to get you back to the Enterprise. Come on, son." The elderly Spock, who was _nothing _like Spock, got Jim off the ice and they set off for the distant Starfleet outpost. Somehow, Jim found himself back on the Enterprise. He had to provoke Spock into compromising himself, and wished he didn't have to resort to violence to do it. Jim wished there was some quiet, peaceful way to get Spock to hand over the Enterprise, wished it was as simple as _asking_.

* * *

On the Enterprise…

When the security officers returned to the bridge leading Jim Kirk and a stranger, Spock was utterly dumbfounded. Kirk was as cocky and brash as ever, but Spock could see that something had changed. There was a different air about him, a different light in his eye. Kirk looked him in the eye and it was all Spock could do to _not _look away.

"We're going the wrong way and you _know _it, Captain." So much for confrontation. Kirk shook his head, "But, you're the captain. Who am I to challenge your decisions?" It was the last thing Spock had expected him to say.

"I do not understand. How did you get back to the Enterprise?"

"That's my little secret, Captain. Forgive me if I prefer to keep it to myself."

"Would somebody explain to me what the _hell _is going _on _here?" Doctor McCoy snapped.

"It's fine, Bones, everything's fine." There was an odd tone to Kirk's voice, he raised one hand in a calming gesture, but Spock didn't miss the loss of focus in the CMO's eyes. Kirk had done something to him.

"Well, considering you haven't killed each other…_yet_, I guess it's not all bad."

"Commander?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What…"

"Don't ask." Kirk raised his hand, just a twitch of his fingers, and Spock fell silent. He wanted to ask…but something kept him from asking. What was Kirk _doing_?

"Permission to speak freely, Captain?"

"Yes."

"If you want my advice, you probably don't, then turn this ship around. We can't do any good running to the fleet in the Laurentian System, we both know that. If we turn around now, we can at least _try_ to engage the Narada. How many worlds have to be destroyed before we stop them?" Kirk stepped a little closer, Spock stiffened but did not back away, "You want to know something, Spock? For all the shit I give you, the loss of your home-world hit hard. I heard them, you know?"

"Heard…them?"

"I heard your people. Thousands of voices, maybe billions, all crying out at once, and then nothing. Just silence, dead silence." Kirk shook his head, "Dead space, an empty hole in the universe. It doesn't make sense, I know, but don't think I take the loss of Vulcan and her people for granted." Spock was dumbfounded.

"What _are _you?"

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't really had time to figure it out." Kirk smiled, but it was a sad, rueful smile. Spock turned from him.

"Mr. Sulu?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Bring us out of warp and alter our course for Earth."

"Sir?"

"Do it."

"Yes, Captain." So, they got turned around. It was then that Spock realized something he hadn't noticed before. Kirk was out of uniform, instead he was wearing a bright orange flight-suit. It was nothing he had ever seen worn by Federation pilots, but it _did _look familiar.

"Oh, Spock?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you mind seeing about a change of uniform for Scotty? I think he could probably use some dry clothes." Kirk smiled at the sodden stranger, who introduced himself as Montgomery Scott. Spock had someone find Scott dry clothes, preferably a proper uniform, and quarters. Kirk refused the same offer, he was just fine, but thank you. When he sat down in the command chair, Spock didn't try to kick him out of it again.

"Captain, what the _hell _is going on?"

"I'm not certain, Doctor." Spock frowned, "I am puzzled as to how Commander Kirk returned to this ship when I specifically recall marooning him on Delta Vega. Which, in hindsight, may not have been the smart course of action."

"Didn't I just _tell _you that a while ago? Good God, man!"

"Bones, Spock, knock it off." Kirk snapped from the command chair, startling them both, "We've got bigger problems to worry about, personal issues can wait." That was new, for both of them. Spock shared a startled look with McCoy. This was entirely new for them, and Spock had a theory.

"Mr. Kirk, you have the bridge."

"Aye, Captain." Kirk's tone was surprisingly sincere. Spock turned at the lift doors and looked at the outlandishly-dressed First Officer, and almost smiled.

"I'm not the Captain anymore, Mr. Kirk, _you _are." He stuck around long enough to enjoy the baffled look on Kirk's face and went to his quarters to do some research. He typed "Jedi Knights" into the search-field. What he got back was really quite fascinating, and it made so much more sense when he thought of everything Kirk had done just recently.

"Hmm. Skywalker?" He researched the family and came up with something else far more interesting. There were supposedly three surviving children of Anakin Skywalker and his wife Padme Amidala, neither of whom was alive at this precise time, but the children were quite well. The three children were a daughter and two sons: James, the eldest and first-born son, and the twins, Luke and Leia. The twins had been separated at birth and given to different families. James had been two at the time of the twins' birth, it was unlikely he remembered very much. Luke and Leia had been given to families within the boundaries of the then-new Galactic Empire, while James had been given to a family outside of the Empire and had grown up with the surname Kirk. His foster-parents were refugee Jedi, and his foster-mother had long ago abandoned the open practices of her people. But that didn't stop her from training Jim when she felt there was something for him to _learn_. When George Kirk had died, one of the best Knights had perished. This had left James fatherless twice. Once by the death of his biological father, and once by the death of his foster-father. It made Spock sad to think that Kirk really _didn't _have a family. It was unlikely he knew anything about his two surviving siblings, his twin brother. That explained hearing voices in his head, and other things as well.

* * *

Spock was staring at the screen when the door-chime sounded. He looked over his shoulder, wondering who would have come looking for him.

"Enter." The door opened and Kirk stepped in. He hadn't changed out of his flight-suit, Spock noticed. He got up slowly, watching Kirk move, "Captain."

"She's not dead."

"Excuse me?"

"Your mother. She's not dead." Kirk looked him straight in the eye, and Spock forgot how to breathe.

"Do you know where she is?"

"I'm not entirely certain of her precise location, but I'm pretty sure she's safe where she is right now. I know the people she's with, they'll look after her." Kirk folded his hands behind his back and smiled, "I guess you know what I am."

"You have a fascinating family-history."

"My biological father _and _my foster-father are both dead."

"I am very sorry."

"Nah. It's alright. I've got family left." Kirk shrugged and rocked on his heels, "I can get your mom back after we handle the Romulans if you want me to."

"But how?"

"We'll have to stop back at Delta Vega, I left something behind that can get me where I need to go." Kirk's eyes, lightening-flash blue, were bright, and Spock couldn't say no. If there was the tiniest possibility his mother had survived, and was safe, he would owe Kirk a great deal.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

While the Enterprise engaged the Romulans, Luke Skywalker was making his way to a date with destiny. Jim was there, in the back of his conscious awareness, their bond as siblings weakened by distance but not dissolved. When he faced off against Darth Vader and jumped from the catwalk into the central shaft of Cloud City, delirious and wounded, coming to rest at last on a weather-vane, Luke called for one person. He called for his brother first, crying his name into the harsh winds that buffeted the underside of the floating city.

_**Jim! Jim, brother!**_ He cried, wishing he didn't know such an awful truth.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jim, struck with a phantom pain, had gone straight to his knees before Nero and Ayel. Luke was in trouble! Jim reached for his brother, found a wavering consciousness, and realized that Luke was in serious trouble. He couldn't help Luke, he had to help himself first. Reaching down, Nero lifted him off his knees one-handed and laughed at him for being a weak Human. He knew James T. Kirk from Earth's history, he had been a great man and a great captain, but Jim would never have a chance to be that man. Jim knew what he was capable of, but he'd never tapped into that power before. He did now and a split second later he dropped into a crouch as Nero dropped him. He sprang from a crouch and cleared Nero's head. He landed behind the Romulans and wished he had a weapon, his phaser had been kicked off the side of the catwalk by Ayel. Suddenly, he heard a shrill whistle and looked up.

"Jim, catch!" the man yelled, throwing something to him. Jim didn't recognize the man, but knew he was a Jedi. Jim caught the object tossed to him and knew what it was the minute his fingers closed around it. A lightsaber. Jim flicked the weapon to life and faced off against the Romulans.

"I warned you, Nero. You picked the wrong ship, the wrong family to fuck with." Nero didn't believe him and sicked Ayel on him. Ayel was dead before he touched Jim, a stunned expression on his face.

"Who _are _you?" Nero hissed, realizing he may have underestimated Jim. Jim just twirled the ancient weapon in his hand and smirked.

"The name's Jim Kirk. I'm a Jedi Knight. I don't expect any of that to mean anything to you." Well, it _did_. Nero's eyes widened with something very much like fear.

"The Jedi Knights don't _exist _anymore!"

"Oh yes we do." Jim snickered and looked over Nero's shoulder, "Don't believe me? Ask _them_." He'd never seen so many before. There must have been a dozen Jedi Knights on the catwalks, all ready for combat. This was Jim's fight, they all knew that. He looked at the master who had given Jim the lightsaber and nodded. _Find Captain Pike, he'll be in the lower levels of the Narada._

_ Be careful, James Skywalker. _It was the first time someone had called him Skywalker outside of his encounter with Master Yoda. Nero tried to take advantage of his momentary lapse of focus, but he hadn't lost focus at all and used the strength his tap gave him, struggling across the catwalk. He knocked Nero off the catwalk once, down one level. Jim gathered his focus and jumped after Nero, landing in a crouch. Nero was ready for him and knocked Jim flat on his back.

"Jim!" someone yelled. He looked up, startled. He knew that voice.

"Spock?"

"Die, Kirk!" Nero snarled above him.

"Captain Nero!" Someone hailed Nero over the ship's comm.-system, "The Vulcan ship has been stolen, sir!" Nero bellowed Spock's name and vanished. Free from Nero, Jim scrambled and went after him. He landed and fell to his knees, gasping for breath, feeling the sweat pouring down the back of his neck and into his eyes.

"Come on, son." The same Jedi from before pulled Jim to his feet, "We've secured your captain."

"S-Spock." Jim's teeth were chattering, "I h-heard him!" They met up with the others, and Jim winced as he got a good look at Pike. He dug out his communicator, "Kirk to Enterprise! Get us out of here, Scotty! Get everybody out!" The Narada vanished, replaced with the Enterprise, and Jim looked over as Spock materialized beside him. He spared a moment for the Jedi and told them to either scatter or join them on the bridge. When they got to the bridge, Chekov had good news for them. The Narada's shields were down.

"Hail them now."

"Aye, sir." Chekov nodded and Jim offered the Romulans an olive-branch. Nero was pissed and said no thank you, though not in so many civilized words. Jim looked at Spock, who stood calmly beside him.

"No problem. Arm phasers and torpedos, fire everything we have. Fire now, fire often." He sat down in the command chair and watched the Narada crumble. The black-hole had blown wide open and the Enterprise was trapped in the gravity-well. The hull cracked under stress, and Jim held his breath until they were free. A split-second silence was followed by cheering, crying, and hugging. Jim, aching from his numerous misadventures, got out of the chair and turned to the master who had armed him against Nero and Ayel. He smiled and held out the lightsaber, "This is yours, sir. Thank you."

"I knew the Skywalkers were destined for great things, I always knew."

"Did you know my father, sir?"

"When I knew him, Anakin Skywalker was a child of ten years. You look just like him. You're James."

"My siblings are Luke and Leia." He made a face, "My sister's a princess."

"Royalty is never a bad connection."

"Thanks for your help back there on the Narada. Is Captain Pike going to be alright?"

"I think he'll make a full recovery. Would it be out of character to suggest that you pay a visit to Sickbay for your own sake?"

"Bones would kill me if I didn't. Commander, you have the bridge. Alert me when we reach Delta Vega."

"Delta Vega? But that's out of our way!" Sulu looked at him, confused. Jim glanced at Spock, who smirked.

"Not anymore, Mr. Sulu. Alter course appropriately and alert me the minute we enter orbit around Delta Vega."

"A-aye, Captain. Where are you going?"

"To Sickbay." He left the bridge alone. When he got down to Sickbay, Bones was all over him. He sat still and let Bones worry over him.

"You brought back some freaky people, Jim. Who _are _they?"

"They're _my _people, Bones." Jim smirked as he saw one of them in Sickbay, moving among the Vulcan patients, "I don't know any of their names, but they're all like me."

"And you're…what, precisely?"

"One of the Skywalkers." He smiled, "I've got two siblings, a twin brother and a sister."

"Excuse me?"

"Skywalkers. Jedi Knights, defenders of everything good, royalty in my sister's case. My father died the day we were born, my foster-parents were exiles."

"I thought you were screwed up anyway."

"Turns out George Kirk was a clone of Anakin Skywalker, who…didn't exactly die." Jim shrugged, "It's Luke I'm worried about."

"Worrying about your family is normal. Sounds like you've got one that's actually worth _missing_." Bones was gentle yet thorough.

* * *

Two hours later, they entered orbit around Delta Vega and Jim beamed down to the ice-cave. Emcee, his copilot droid, whistled and chirped with excitement to see him.

"Hey there, Emcee. Miss me?" he smirked as he climbed up the ladder of the X-wing. He heard transporters and looked over his shoulder. Spock materialized and Jim turned on the ladder.

"Be careful, Jim."

"Don't worry, I'll bring you mom back alive." He hopped down the ladder, "I heard you, Spock. While I was on the Narada."

"I know, I wanted you to hear me." Spock looked bashful, "You were in danger."

"And that bothered you?"

"I couldn't help you. I know how you felt so helpless to assist your brother."

"You'd like Luke, he's a calmer version of me." Jim smiled and cocked his head to one side, "You look sad."

"Please come back, Jim." Spock touched the wing of the fighter, "Sarhla ha-kel."

"I will, Spock. I promise I will." Jim pushed away from the ladder and took Spock's hand in his, looking up to meet the Vulcan's gaze, "Wait for us." Then, parted by Emcee's indignant shrieking, Jim clinbed the ladder and started pre-flight. Spock stood by until he took off, and he circled once, watching the transporter pick up Spock and take him back to the Enterprise. He had somewhere else to go. Using homing-devices, Jim located the fleet and set out for a reunion he was actually looking forward to.


	6. Chapter Six

**_AN: I go a little M here, and yes, Jim has sex with Leia. I know that's incest, but I wanted it there. Cringe if you wish, hate me if you wish, but don't write essays about it, please._**

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter Six

Leia Organa was staring out one of the many view-ports at the passing stars of space and wishing for a moment that someone could tell her everything would turn out alright. She was worried about James, he'd parted ways with Luke on Dagobah and no one had seen or heard from him since. Luke himself was in Med-Bay recuperating from his encounter with Darth Vader. She was startled out of her contemplation by a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she turned. It was James! Alive!

"James!"

"It's alright, Leia." He hugged her tightly, "I've already seen Luke."

"I was so worried about you! I didn't know where you were or if you were even _alive_!"

"Everyone is safe now, Leia. My crew is safe." He pulled back, "Did you by any chance happen to pick up a refugee by the name of Amanda Grayson?"

"Yes, she's a wonderfully compassionate woman. Very lost."

"I have someone back on the Enterprise who would be real happy to see her again." James's smile turned sad and Leia knew he wasn't going to stay. She hugged him tightly and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Can't you stay just a while?"

"If you want me to." He smiled into her hair and Leia felt safe. It had been a long time since she felt safe anywhere. Taking James by the hand, she led him back to her quarters. He patiently removed every layer of clothing she wore, she returned him the favor, and sighed when he pulled her into his arms for a lover's kiss. There were bruises that had not been there before and she mapped out every one of them, taking care not to hurt him. There was bruise in the shape of a handprint on his neck, but he told her not to worry, it was over now. Leia kissed the bruises and hated the man who had delivered them.

Jim lifted her into his arms and she wrapped her legs around his body, resting her forehead against his as he entered her carefully, slowly, filling and stretching her until there was no further to go. They ended up on the bed together, pushing him deeper if that was possible, and Leia submitted to the skill of a man who knew exactly what he was doing, knew how to please a woman. He learned her secrets, what touching in different places did to her, playing her body like a finely-tuned instrument. He wrung climax after climax out of her, never the same way twice. He filled her again and again and she never wanted it to stop. When he came down, she held him close and they kissed and cuddled and said nothing in words. Leia fell asleep in his arms, and woke up alone. He'd left a note for her, and a rose. She cherished both and thought that, if a child should come of the union, then blessed be it. Any child was a gift, any child from James more so. The Jedi legacy would continue in any child of his. That made her happy.

* * *

Enterprise Orbit above Delta Vega

When Transporters was hailed from the surface of Delta Vega, Scotty alerted the bridge. The First Officer came tearing into the room, skidding to a halt, and nodded.

"Now, Mr. Scott." Scotty wasn't entirely certain what he was bringing back, just that it was really important. The woman who materialized on the platform was Human. She was also the First Officer's mother, evidenced by the way the half-Vulcan greeted her. Now, then, where was the Captain? Hmm. As if summoned by thought, the young captain, a man Scotty would be happy to follow anywhere he happened to lead, stuck his head in and smiled when he saw the First Officer. Oh, _there _he was.

"Well done, Scotty. Job well done."

"Thank you, sir." Scotty blushed under the praise. Just doing his job, that was all.

* * *

In the aftermath of the crisis that claimed the lives of fifteen hundred Starfleet officers and billions of Vulcans, Jim Kirk was honored with a medal of valor to recognize his leadership and quick thinking. He was also asked to relieve Admiral Pike as captain of the flagship, take over duties _as _captain of the USS Enterprise. That would make him the youngest captain in Starfleet. But in the midst of all of this, Jim couldn't forget his family. He couldn't help thinking there was something he'd missed, something important. When the Enterprise set off on her first official mission, Jim kept eyes and ears open for anything that could bring him back to Luke and Leia, back to the hardy Alliance.

* * *

_I promise this is NOT the end! Promises! Yes, yes, we promises! *cough cough* I'm sorry, that was my Lord of the Rings fling, I'm all done being weird now. Please review, NO ESSAYS/FLAMES, and stay tuned!_


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

A year after taking command of the Enterprise, Jim was reminded just how close the Federation and the Empire were in proximity. It was just after the start of Alpha Shift when the Enterprise intercepted a transmission on a non-Federation frequency.

"Captain, it's a child." Nyota Uhura turned to Jim in alarm, "Something's wrong!"

"Trace the transmission, tell me where it's coming from." He wondered how a child would have gotten hold of a communicator and what cause they would have.

"Jim…" Nyota rarely used his first name, and when she turned to him again, her face was ashen, "It's from Coruscant."

"Coruscant? Patch it through, Uhura."

"Yes, sir." She scrambled her controls and Jim got to his feet.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise. To whom am I speaking?"

"Nalme Nell! Please, please help us!" that was a child's voice alright, and a young one, too.

"What's going on, Nalme? Why do you need our help?"

"They're destroying the Temple, they're killing everybody!" he listened, they all did, and somewhere in the distance, Jim swore he heard gunfire.

"Nalme, are you in the Jedi Temple?"

"Yes! Please hurry!"

"Alright, stay calm. Find as many Jedi as you can and find a safe place to hide. I'll get back in contact when we reach Coruscant. We shouldn't be long."

"Help us, Captain!"

"I will, Padawan. Where's your master?"

"They killed her!"

"Hide, Nalme, just _hide_. I'm coming, I promise." Jim waved to Nyota, who cut out and he ordered a course set for Coruscant, "Scotty, I need all the power you can give me, we're in a bit of a rush!"

"Full power at the ready, Captain!"

"Thank you, Scotty."

"Jim, what's going on?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out when we get there." He paced the bridge for a while and then left, giving orders for Away Teams to be assembled. He had shuttles prepared as well and changed out of uniform. He was in Shuttle Bay 2 when the Enterprise gave a violent jolt.

"Captain to Bridge, Sulu, what happened?"

"I don't know, sir, we flew through some kind of anomaly and dropped out of warp!"

"Did we make it to Coruscant?"

"Yes, sir, we did."

"What does the computer tell you?"

"According to the computer, it's 26 BBY."

"Twenty-six years before the Battle of Yavin. In Federation time-keeping, that's…2235." He blinked, "I was two years old. That's the year the Jedi Temple was destroyed! We're running out of time!" Jim felt a massive disruption in the Force and it took every ounce of strength to stay on his feet. Taking one Away Team, he beamed straight to the Temple and quickly located Nalme Nell and twenty Younglings. He beamed them back to the Enterprise and took off through the Temple.

By the time he ran into Anakin Skywalker on rampage, he had transported nearly a hundred Jedi to safety and more were being taken out every time Scotty fired the transporters. He had the Enterprise shuttles making runs to secure landing-sites to which he sent fleeing Jedi. He had stumbled across a group of Younglings hiding in the Council Chamber when the door was forced open. Jim turned around, lightsaber held at the ready, and recognized the young Jedi who came in.

"Anakin." He breathed.

"Get out of my way or I'll kill you." Anakin Skywalker snarled. Jim quietly thumbed the transmitter on the comlink. It would send a signal to Scotty and beam out any Jedi he was with, leaving him to continue the search.

"You won't kill any Jedi while I'm in your way, Skywalker." He said calmly, pressing the switch. Skywalker's eyes widened in alarm and anger as the Younglings were beamed to safety.

"Where did you send them?"

"Somewhere safe, you'll never find them." He wrapped both hands around the lightsaber, "You said you were going to kill me, get on with it already." Bad idea taunting Anakin Skywalker on the verge of his fall to the Dark Side, but Jim had the feeling he could change things that needed changing. If Spock Prime had messed around with timelines and destinies, why couldn't Jim do the same thing?


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

When Anakin Skywalker entered the empty Council Chamber, it wasn't empty at all. Twelve Younglings cowered behind a Jedi Knight he didn't recognize, but before Anakin could carry out his task of purging the Temple, they vanished in some kind of transference wave. The Jedi Knight stared him down, calm and controlled, Anakin felt no fear from him.

"Where did you send them?" he snarled, angered at the Knight's gall.

"Somewhere safe, you'll never find them." The Knight wrapped both hands around a blazing purple lightsaber, "You said you were going to kill me, get on with it already." Anakin figured it was one less Jedi to worry about and did him the favor. But this Knight was good, he was stronger than Anakin had anticipated, and they fought long and it was a nearly even match. Suddenly, Anakin found himself flat on his back, the Knight kneeling on his chest. He tried to throw the Knight using the Force, but this one was good. When Anakin came up, his lightsaber was not there. The strange Knight had it and had crossed their blades.

"Who _are _you?"

"My name is James Tiberius Kirk." What an unusual name. Anakin kept his distance, the Knight's power unsettled him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Saving the Jedi Order faster than your Clone Troops can destroy it. Hundreds have been transported to safety, more as we speak."

"How?" He circled Kirk, who pulled back his robe to reveal a badge on his belt. Anakin looked at it more closely.

"I know that symbol." Anakin looked up, "You are with the UFP."

"I'm glad you know what that is. I'm one of their captains."

"Who are you? You told me your name, tell me again."

"James Kirk. I'm here to tell you that you're doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons."

"I'm not doing anything wrong."

"No? Let me show you something." Kirk moved away, handing Anakin his lightsaber in passing, "Follow me, Master Skywalker." Anakin followed, and they retraced his exact steps. The Temple seemed too quiet, he could hear the sound of blaster-fire in the distance as the Clone Troops finished the job, and the hallways were littered with the fallen. Anakin saw a figure in a blue tunic kneeling beside one of the fallen Jedi and slowed down. The man in blue looked up at them, his expression sad and grim. The body was that of a child, a Youngling of twelve.

"Children, Anakin. You're slaughtering _children_." Kirk spoke in a voice that gave Anakin a deep chill and a sick feeling in his gut, "These are the ones I was too late to save."

"My god." He sank to his knees, "What have I done?"

"Something very wrong. Who told you to wipe out the Jedi Order?"

"Chancellor Palpatine."

"And you believed him?"

"He said he could save my wife."

"Your wife will _die _because of you, Anakin, if you don't stop now." Kirk snarled. The thought of Padme dying because of something _he'd _done was too much for Anakin. He was confused, angry, and he wanted to make things right again.

"We've gotten most of the refugees out of the Temple, the only ones left are those in hiding, the wounded, and the dead." The man in blue said in a low voice.

"How safe are the Jedi in hiding, Anakin?"

"Safe." He looked up at them, "I'm the only one who can find hidden Jedi, the Troops only know how to find those in the open." Kirk grew very still and suddenly turned on his heel.

"Bones, get out of sight."

"Where are you going?"

"To hide. The Troop Commander is coming." Kirk looked at him and vanished around the corner. It was then that Anakin realized there were six Jedi hiding around that same corner. He got up, straightened out his robe, and hastily wiped away tears.

"Master Skywalker, we have dispatched of all the Jedi we could find in the Temple. Should we look for survivors?"  
"No, you've done your job."

"Aye, sir." The Commander saluted and went on his way. As soon as he was gone, Kirk and the man in blue came out alone. Anakin knew the Jedi had been transported to safety and smiled.

"Thank you, James."

"For what?"

"You kept me from making a mistake."

"I had to try." Jim shrugged, "What about the Chancellor?"

"I have to stop him."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Here." Kirk handed him something, "Keep this with you at all times. When you know something, that gets you into contact with me."

"When would I need this?"

"You never know." Kirk smiled and the two vanished. Anakin returned to Palpatine, said nothing of the rescue efforts, the continuing survival of the Order, and took his next assignment.

* * *

Once he was sure the Temple was empty of Clone Troops, Jim returned and sought out those still in hiding. Bones and the Away Teams were transporting the fallen to the Enterprise for transport to a world of choosing where they could be formally laid to rest and remember properly. Anakin got in touch with him and sent them to Naboo to lay the deceased to rest. Jim had the opportunity to meet his own mother, whom he actually _remembered_, having been two years of age at the time of the Purges. She was surprised to see him, recognizing him right away as her grown son.

"James!"

"It's alright, we're all safe." He reassured her as she hugged him the way Leia did, "How are the twins?"

"Restless."

"May I?"

"Of course!" she blushed as he felt the twins kick.

"Have you thought of names for them?"

"Not yet, I know I'm awful for that." She looked at him, smiling.

"Can I suggest some for you?"

"Names?"

"Name your son Luke and your daughter Leia."

"Oh, those are perfect names! You can't stay, can you?"

"Not in this time. Unless Anakin needs me to help him." Jim shrugged. Padme hugged him, warned them all to be careful, and he waited for his father's call. It came and they set course for Mustafar. Anakin was in trouble, Palpatine had discovered the ruse and was far from pleased. Jim reached the combatants at a crucial moment and got between Palpatine and his father.

Without wasting a minute, Jim transported Anakin off Mustafar and saved his life that way. With his work done, Jim wondered how this changed _his _future. It would be interesting.

* * *

When he got back to the Enterprise, Jim called his officers together and explained that things might happen differently because of what he'd done.

"Will we recognize each other?"

"I think we will. The question is, will our circumstances be the same as they were the first time?"

"Why would they be any different?"

"Because my past changed."

"Here's to the future, then." Bones looked uncomfortable with the whole mess, but the deed was done. So, determined to face whatever future awaited them, they set course for the future.


	9. Chapter Nine Part One

**_AN: I based the timing of the story starting with Chapter Nine-One onwards on the concept that Jim is a Skywalker more than a Kirk and he was born two years before The Revenge of The Sith happened, which would have made him approximately two years of age. Considering Jim was 22 when he enlisted, and Luke Skywalker was 19 when he blew up the Death Star, I made it work for my own mostly-harmless, nefarious purposes. No essays or flames, but con-crit and other reviews are quite welcome. Read on!_**

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter Nine Part One

2235 - "Corrected" Timeline

George Kirk sat on the bridge of the dying Kelvin, weeping softly.

"Padme?"

"I'm here, George." He heard his wife's voice over the pickup.

"Tell Anakin to take care of our children. Take care of Tiberius, and Leia, and Luke."

"Don't worry about your family, George, we'll make it through this." He heard Anakin Skywalker's voice and smiled. One of them had to die, he'd banished his clone-brother and sister-in-law to the shuttles long ago. The Skywalker line would survive by them, it _had _to. So much had changed because of a bold, young Jedi Knight who had altered the past to save the future. Praying for the safety of his family, George braced himself as the Kelvin slammed into the massive alien ship. His death was sudden, swift, and painless. But it had not been for nothing.

* * *

2255…Twenty years later…

Jim Kirk hit the floor of the bar and felt the air rush out of his lungs.

_Not much of a Jedi tonight, are you, Kirk? _His conscience sneered. Jim groaned and started to rise. The Starfleet bullies pounding him did him a favor and dragged him up by the collar. Jim, who lived by the rules of avoiding violence when he could, wasn't going to sit around and be a punching-bag anymore. And it wasn't like the lightsaber hanging on his belt was just there for show. He clocked the guy holding him and flipped another one over his shoulder. The bar got real quiet when he armed himself. Starfleet recruits weren't dumb enough to gang up on a guy carrying a weapon like a lightsaber, they knew better than that.

"Only Jedi carry lightsabers!" one of the bullies coughed. Jim twirled the purple blade, chosen to honor one of the Order's best Masters, one of it's fallen heroes.

"That _is _a Jedi, gentlemen." A new voice reached them and Jim smirked. Busted.

"Evening, Captain Pike."

"Jim." The Starfleet Recruiting Officer nodded to Jim and looked at the thugs, "That's James Tiberius Kirk, Tiberius Skywalker. I wouldn't mess with him for a lot of reasons, the fact that he'll kick your collective sorry asses without trying too hard is just one. Messing with a Jedi is a good way to get kicked out of Starfleet before you're even in." Christopher Pike looked at the ringleader, his expression one of disgust, "Kadinski, get up and get out of my sight. Take your band of merry marauders and scram before I have you booted for causing a disturbance of the peace." The thugs were gone faster than the time it took Jim to power down his unused lightsaber and put it back. Pike didn't stick around long, he had skulls to crack, and Jim went back to the bar.

"Sorry about that, Tyler."

"You didn't start it, Jim." The bartender shook his head, "It's been worse than that, actually." Jim shrugged and turned to the recruit he'd been flirting with when Kadinski and his thugs decided she needed rescuing and Jim needed his skull bashed in.

"Not such a dumb hick, huh?"

"Oh my god!" she stared at him in shock, "You're a Skywalker?"

"Surprise." Jim smiled and looked at Tyler, raising two fingers, "Look, let me buy you a drink and we'll call it even."

"Would saying I'm sorry help at all? I really had no idea."

"That's alright, most people don't associate _this_ with the Skywalkers." Jim motioned to his general person. Tyler set two glasses of Desert Glory on the bar with an upraised eyebrow. Jim nodded and handed one to the recruit.

"So, _now _will you tell me your name?"

"My name's Nyota Uhura."

"Pleasure's mine." He smiled, "Cheers."

"What is this?"

"That, my dear lady, is a Tatooine gut-rot we call Desert Glory. It'll knock you right on your ass if you're not careful."

"Sounds like fun. I've never been to Tatooine."

"Don't go." Jim tossed back the contents of his glass, "You're not missing anything."

"Aww, you don't mean that."

"Sweetheart, I grew up there for the first ten years of my _life_, and I always swore six ways to Sunday I'd never go back there."

"Why not?"

"You ever heard of a crime-family called the Hutts?"

"Everyone knows about the Hutts."

"They _rule _Tatooine. Most of the time they ignore the people who live there, I kept my head down."

"I heard Jabba's not above hiring bounty-hunters to track down somebody who's crossed him wrong."

"He ignores the Skywalkers, thankfully. I've got enough trouble with the law in Riverside, I don't need inter-stellar trouble too." Jim looked around the now-quiet bar. Uhura was actually a lot of fun to talk to, and it was easy to make her laugh. They stayed and talked for hours, until it got late enough she was bound to be missed at billeting. Jim offered her a ride when Tyler kicked them out, she said yes. He dropped her off at the billeting hotel and said goodnight.

"Where are you going?"

"I've gotta talk to the captain." Jim shrugged, "I bet I'll see you tomorrow, kid."

"Goodnight, Jim."

"Goodnight, Nyota." He leaned up for a kiss and headed for the Shipyard. He got through the gates with a little suggestion and parked in front of the Quartermaster's Office. Captain Pike was outside, standing at ease as he leaned against the wall of the building, and if Jim hadn't known the man practically from birth, it would have bothered him to see the man smoking a cigarette.

"I was wondering when I'd see you around here, Jim."

"Sorry about the rumble earlier, Uncle Chris." Jim joined Pike against the wall, "And no, I didn't start it."

"You don't need to convince _me _of that. I take it you made up with your linguist girlfriend?"

"We made up, and she's not my girlfriend."

"Hmm." Pike snorted and passed the cigarette to Jim, who took it without a second's hesitation, "Why don't you call your parents, Jim?"

"I did, yesterday."

"Ah." A shrug. Jim handed the cigarette back and followed Pike inside five minutes later, where he filled out all of the necessary paperwork to sign his life away to Starfleet. It was time he did something with himself. Whether history remembered him as a Skywalker or a Kirk, it wouldn't matter as long as history didn't _forget _him in it's pages.


	10. Chapter Nine Part Two

Chapter Nine – Part Two

Almost three months after signing away his soul, Jim found himself in a familiar place he didn't want to be. General Basic Training had been completed and the lucky survivors were doomed to fourteen days on some unknown world to survive – if they could. As soon as Jim set foot on the hard-packed sand, he looked up. Two suns. No planetary system in the Federation had a binary star. Looking around, he felt a deep dread in his gut.

"We're not on a Federation world." He said, mostly to himself. The nineteen other "survivors" gathered around him as Captain Pike waved cheerfully from the shuttle's hatch.

"Good luck, Cadet Skywalker! Welcome home!"

"Fuck."

"Jim? What's he talking about?" Leonard McCoy, a friend of his from the beginning of this crazy adventure, tapped him on the shoulder.

"See that double-primary?"

"Yeah?"

"We're not on a Federation world. If something happens to us, it could take a long time for anyone to find out." He hoisted the survival-pack onto his shoulders, "We have two weeks to get from where we are now to Mos Eisley Spaceport."

"Where are we?"

"Smack in the middle of the Dune Sea. Not the friendliest place."

"What's out here, Jim?" Nyota Uhura asked faintly.

"Jawas and Tusken Raiders. Beggar's Canyon is six miles in that direction, I want to get there before nightfall." Jim pulled the reflective goggles down over his eyes, wrapped the scarf around his nose and mouth, pulled _up _the hood of his long off-white duster, and turned west. Under the duster, Jim wore a gold jumpsuit with the badge of the Command-Helm division on the left breast. Everyone in his group wore a division-color jumpsuit under their jackets with proper badges according to their study-tracks. They wore badges on their jacket and on their jumpsuits. Once everyone had appropriate protection, Jim led them across the desert to Beggar's Canyon. There was static-electricity in the air, and the sky to the east was hazy. A sandstorm was coming, and the way the wind was picking up, it was coming fast. Jim really didn't want to get caught out in the open desert during one of Tatooine's sandstorms. When someone lagged behind, he went back and told them to keep moving.

"A sandstorm's coming! Tatooine's storms are fierce, you don't want to get caught out in the open during one of them! Keep moving!" He yelled over the howling wind. The storm overtook them, but one sharp-eyed Cadet had spotted a structure in the near distance. They headed for the small house, Jim was just praying whoever lived there wouldn't mind twenty exhausted Starfleet Cadets invading for shelter. The house was empty, but they got inside and shut out the storm. As his Cadets dropped their packs and collapsed, Jim pushed up his goggles and pushed back his hood.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Nyota coughed, "Where are we?"

"I don't know. Let me look around, I don't think anyone's home." He padded through a dark, quiet house. There was room in the back of the house, and he sent his Cadets back there to lay out their ground-pads and bedrolls.

"Jim, someone _lives _here, we can't stay." McCoy came up as he explored the house, "We're trespassing."

"I don't think whoever lives here is going to mind too much, Bones."

"Why _not_? I'd be pretty damn pissed if I came home to twenty punk kids sleeping on my floor!"  
"Because whoever lives here is a Jedi."

"Oh, _that's _comforting."

"It should be, old man." Jim smiled, "I actually know the people who live here."

"You do?"

"Yep. This is old Ben Kenobi's place. He always used to tell me if I needed a place to stay, I could stay with him."

"Well, that's nice, but something tells me he didn't mean to extend that invitation to nineteen other strangers."

"Stop it, Bones, we're safe here." Jim snapped, fed up with his friend's moaning, "If you were going to be such a moaner, you should have dropped out of Starfleet a long time ago."

"Jim…"

"No. You might think your life's pretty sad right now, and maybe it is, but you're crying to the wrong person, man." Jim brushed past his friend, "I grew up here, Bones, this place was home for a long time. I never went to sleep a night in my _life _without worrying about if I'd wake up to find a rifle in my face because the Empire had found the Skywalkers at last."

"Is that why you lived in Iowa for so long?" Nyota had come to try and diffuse the situation. Jim looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, that's why I lived on Earth for so long. The Empire's not about to fuck with the Federation. They're not _that _desperate."

"You never told me that." Bones looked puzzled.

"You never cared." Jim left the kitchen, "We're safe here for tonight. Wherever Master Kenobi is right now, I doubt we'll see him until tomorrow." Jim laid out his bedding and sat down, back against the wall. Despite their argument just now, Bones settled down to his right and Nyota to his left. The house got quiet really quick as people started falling asleep, the only sound really was the howling wind as the sandstorm lashed at the house in vain. Jim finally fell asleep around midnight, safe and exhausted.


	11. Chapter Ten

**_Just a quick FYI: James Tiberius Kirk is the name Anakin Skywalker gave his eldest son when the family was forced to scatter, so when Obi-Wan calls him Tiberius, that's not a coincidence. His given name is Tiberius Skywalker, as Captain Pike mentioned in Part 1 of Chapter 9._**

* * *

Chapter Ten

When Obi-Wan Kenobi returned to his small house on the Dune Sea, he was surprised to find it full of people. The suns were just rising, and the house was very quiet. But not empty. There were several Jedi in the house, two at least, and he went around the house to see what the situation was. In all, he counted twenty young people between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two. They were scattered all over the house, wherever there was floor-space to lay down a ground-pad, they were in it. In the small master room, _his _room, three of the twenty slept against the far wall. Pulling back the hood of the one in the middle, Obi-Wan smiled.

"Tiberius. I was wondering what had become of you, son." He chuckled softly, "It seems I had no reason to worry at all." Tiberius Skywalker, eldest of three, slept soundly but always aware. Like any good Jedi, he slept with his lightsaber at hand. The girl to his left did the same. He shook his head and went to the kitchen. As the suns rose, he fixed breakfast not for himself but for the twenty exhausted, hungry Cadets sleeping on his floor. He wondered briefly if Anakin knew about this and quickly decided against it. Roused by the smell of food, the tired Cadets came in, took their share, and retreated to their ground-pads to eat. Tiberius and his two companions came in almost dead last, and he just smiled.

"Sorry we used your house for a crash-pad, Ben." Tiberius apologized as he tucked into breakfast.

"I would have insisted, Tiberius. Where did you all come from?"

"You see twenty of the "lucky survivors" of Starfleet Academy's last round of Basic Training. We're on the front-end of the Fourteen Days of Hell."

"I wonder if your commanding officers would consider _this _surviving."

"They'd better. Of course, how would they know we spent a night in your house unless you told them?" Tiberius gave him a look that reminded him so much of Anakin at that age. Obi-Wan just smiled and shook his head.

"Your secret will remain safe with me, Tiberius. Who are your friends?" he smiled at the silent, pensive pair who flanked Tiberius. Tiberius smiled.

"Nyota Uhura, Leonard McCoy, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Thank you for not kicking us out, Master." The girl, Nyota, smiled shyly.

"I wouldn't have kicked anyone out. I always told Tiberius, _and _Luke for that matter, if they ever needed a place to stay my house was open to them."

"I _told _you." Tiberius hissed, shooting his friend McCoy a dirty look. Ah, a dispute over lodging. Obi-Wan chuckled but held his peace. After breakfast, Tiberius and his nineteen Cadets helped clean up, packed up their gear, and Obi-Wan saw them off into the desert for another long day's trek. Tiberius had plans to reach Beggar's Canyon by high noon, rest out the hottest part of the day there, and continue on his way when it was safe. But when he watched them set off, he knew they wouldn't reach Beggar's Canyon until much later. They were heading straight for the Skywalker farmstead, and Obi-Wan considered warning Anakin and Padme and then decided against it. He instead visited his step-brother, where he found Luke Skywalker itching for adventure. Not that Owen was very happy to _see _him, of course, but he hadn't come to stay.

"Luke, you may want to go home."

"Why? Are Mom and Dad okay?"

"Oh, yes, they're fine. I suspect you may find a visitor has come. You might want to be there to say hello." Obi-Wan just smiled suggestively. In no time at all, Luke was on his way home. Obi-Wan watched until the speeder was out of sight and took a few minutes to be with his only real family. Owen wasn't so upset about him stopping by when he mentioned Tiberius and the Cadets, so he caught them up on that bit of news.

* * *

When Jim saw the domes of his family's farmstead, he smiled.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yep, we're here." He broke into a jog, "We're home!" He skidded at the rim of the housing pit and looked down. His parents were probably inside right now, avoiding the high-noon suns that were beginning to take their revenge on Jim's Cadets, but the courtyard wasn't empty. They all joined him, lining the rim, and he smiled at the girl dancing around in the courtyard.

"She's pretty." Bones breathed, "Who's that?"

"_That_ is my sister Annika. She was a year old when I left Tatooine." He smiled, pushing back his hood and googles, "Watch this." He whistled softly, the dog who pranced along with his sister stopped playing and his ears went up. Jim whistled again and Annika looked up. When she saw him there, she shaded her eyes, recognized him, and vanished into the house with a shriek.

"That was interesting." Bones folded his arms across his chest, "And loud."

"Knock it off, Bones." He turned around as Annika came tearing out of the garage-dome, hair flying.

"Tibs! Tibs, you're _home_!" she shrieked, tackling him in her excitement.

"Hey, Annika. Wow, hi." He staggered a little, "Guess you're happy to see me, huh?"

"Tibs?" Bones looked at him funny, that was new. Jim rolled his eyes and paid attention to his sister.

"You don't come home anymore! Why not?"

"It's not exactly a short trip from Earth to Tatooine, kiddo." He pushed her backwards, "Stop growing up on me. How old are you now?"

"Thirteen."

"Hmm. Like I said." He rolled his eyes.

"Tiberius?" Jim heard his mother's voice and let go of Annika. Drawn out by all the noise Annika had made, his parents stood by the garage-dome. Jim pulled away from his sister and his Cadets.

"Mom!"

"What are you doing home, son?"

"Starfleet Academy's Fourteen Days of Hell." He hugged his mother tightly, "They dumped twenty of us on Tatooine and said "have fun!""

"They don't pick Rim Worlds or Imperial Worlds very often." His father mused.

"I think they got bored, actually."

"Well, no matter! You all look exhausted! Come inside!" His mother waved off any explanation and they were all hustled inside. Jim shrugged and they went inside, where it was _much _cooler. Annika seemed utterly _smitten _with Pavel Chekov, the youngest of Jim's Cadets, and he watched the two flirt the way children will.

"You're okay with this?" he asked his father.

"How old is he?"

"Chekov? He's fourteen."

"Oh, that's fine. They're too young to get into much trouble."

"You'd sure like to think so." Jim studied the pair in question, "But Annika _is _a Skywalker."

"Hmm. True, that." Anakin chuckled. They rested out the hottest part of the day at the Skywalker farmstead. Jim was working on one of the homestead's courtyard vaporators when he heard a land-speeder. He looked up and shaded his eyes.

"Bones!"

"Jim, I think we've got company!" Bones called from the garage. Jim wiped his forehead and straightened. A moment later, his brother appeared at the rim of the housing pit. He just smiled and waved.

"Hey, little brother!"

"Jim!"

"Stay there!" he tossed the tools into the case at his feet and ran up to the garage-dome. Luke was thrilled to see him and wanted to know what he was doing home. Jim introduced him to the Cadets and asked how it was with Luke. They talked for hours until it was time to move on. Anakin gave them transponders and warned them to be wary of Sand People.

* * *

When it grew late and the suns began to set, Jim found a good place to camp on a canyon ledge, high enough it would take some effort for the Raiders to find them and reach them, laid a watch-roster, and rolled out his ground-pad and sleeping-bag. When his turn on watch came up, he sat at the edge of camp and stared out into the darkness with his phase-rifle across his knees. On the half-hour, he patrolled the perimeter before reclaiming his post. Bones joined him, apologized for the scuffle last night, and said nothing more. The moons were high when they were relieved and Jim lay down to sleep.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

After a few days in the Dune Sea, Jim turned around and headed back for the farmsteads. They were close to the Lars homestead when they saw smoke.

"Hey, Jim? What's out there?"

"Nothing, except my uncle's farmstead."

"Should we check it out?"

"Yeah, I think we should." Smoke this far out into the desert was never a good sign. They reached the farmstead to find the whole place up in smoke. The buildings had been torched. Off to one side of the garage-dome, Jim saw two shapes in the smoke. When the smoke blew clear, he wasn't the only one to turn around. A few of his Cadets leaned over and vomited on the sand. Getting his wits, Jim called home. _They _were safe, but he told his father about Owen and Beru.

"What should we do, Dad?"  
"If you can, bury the bodies so scavengers don't desecrate their remains."

"I think we can move them, I'll see." He wiped his face, "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Is Luke there?"

"No, and no sign of him around the house."

"I'll come out there and help you, then." Anakin sounded grim and sad. Jim nodded, signed off, and waved over Bones and the other Medical students. He explained the plan and they got busy moving the skeletal, charred remains of his aunt and uncle. His father arrived and they dug two graves for the Lars.

Luke arrived home while they were digging and explained everything to them. Yesterday, he and Uncle Owen had purchased two droids, a golden protocol droid who didn't know how to shut up and a chirpy, feisty R2 unit. R2-D2 had run away during the night and Luke had taken C-3PO to find the little astro-droid. They'd discovered R2, run into some Tusken Raiders, and been rescued by Obi-Wan Kenobi. After retrieving a message from R2's memory, they'd set off for Mos Eisley, when they had discovered a burned-out Sand Crawler and it's slain crew of Jawas. That had sent Luke running back to the Lars homestead. Jim pulled his frantic brother aside while his father and the Cadets finished burying Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen.

"Luke, you said you retrieved a message from R2's memory. Who was it from?"

"It's Leia." Luke looked over, "She's in trouble, Jim."

"How?"

"She's been taken captive by the Empire. Who _knows _what they'll do to her." Luke seemed torn. Jim looked around. Leia was in trouble, and _he _was…oh, wait a minute! Anakin came over, having seen them chatting, and they told him everything. He gave Luke and Jim his blessing to go with Obi-Wan and rescue Leia from the Empire.

"Get my Cadets to the Alliance, I'll take responsibility for them if Starfleet Command finds out what we're doing." Jim knew Uhura and Bones wouldn't like it at all, but he had to do this alone. After convincing Bones that he would be fine, Jim set off to find Obi-Wan. Basic Training had just taken a steep turn into real-life experience in a live combat situation.

* * *

When Luke Skywalker returned with his brother, Obi-Wan Kenobi felt nothing but relief and a tiny smidge of pride. Part of him was surprised that Anakin trusted him with both of his sons, but realized that Jim would have come along anyway. Luke agreed to take him to Mos Eisley, but there was no way three Humans and two droids could ride comfortably in the land-speeder. Jim was still carrying his gear and offered to hike into the Spaceport. From their rendezvous, it was a trek of roughly two hours, perhaps more. Obi-Wan knew Jim was capable of making the trek by himself, and Luke waited until his brother was out of sight before setting off. They stayed wide of Jim's trail, but left him a dust-trail to follow so _he _wouldn't get lost.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**_AN: Obi-Wan and the Skywalkers call Jim "Tiberius", but Han Solo doesn't because he met Jim after he left Tatooine and abandoned the Outer Rim for Federation Space. I've been thinking that the Republic/Empire/Alliance is located in approximately the Gamma Quadrant and perhaps a fraction of the Delta Quadrant and/or the Beta Quadrant. Just a thought, please don't jump down my throat, and please remember this IS a FAN-fiction. Thanks._**

* * *

Chapter 12

By the time Jim Kirk reached Mos Eisley, the suns were at high-noon and he was beginning to feel the strain of his journey. No one stopped him, but he _did _see the checkpoint where Luke's speeder was stopped. Interested to see what happened, Jim watched from a nearby doorway as Obi-Wan influenced the Storm Troopers and got them through alright. Jim tracked the speeder to a block-cantina in the Spaceport District. He slipped into the cantina and ordered a drink. No one bothered him, desert drifters were usually left alone if they were ever encountered. One drunk patron got pushy, Jim didn't have to do anything. A big, menacing Wookie tapped the man on the shoulder and got him to turn around. The man's eyes widened and he backed away, hands upraised in a gesture of surrender.

"No trouble, don't want no trouble!"

"Then go on your way and stop bothering people. The Wookie's with me." Jim said firmly. Luke joined him shortly and ordered the same thing Jim was drinking.

_**We have missed you, Cub. **_Chewbacca rumbled.

"Sorry about that, Chewie. I've been busy."

_**So busy you could not call a friend?**_

"I would have, but I'm in the middle of Starfleet's Fourteen Days of Hell right now, I just finished Basic Training."

_**Ah, Han will be pleased!**_

"Pfft." Jim rolled his eyes and tossed back his drink. Another patron was bugging Luke, who shrugged him off politely. For that trouble, Luke got roughed up a bit. Jim caught the hobo by the wrist and warned him, "You don't want to fight him, _or _me. Back off."

"You don't scare me!"

"I said, back off, pal. Leave my brother alone." Jim snarled. The hobo shoved him backwards and waved a blaster. Jim reacted on instinct and the bartender ducked when he deflected one blast-bolt with his lightsaber to crash into a wall. A second slammed into the hobo's alien partner and a third took out the hobo. Jim secured his lightsaber and turned around to help Luke to his feet.

"Y'know, I thought it was _my _job to pick a barfight I couldn't win."

"I didn't pick any fights."

"I know, but you sure pissed _him _off." Jim tossed a few credits on the bar, "Sorry about the mess, Dolan."

"Crazy bastard." The barkeep muttered, palming the coins. Jim maneuvered his brother away from the bar and they followed Chewie to a back table.

"Well-done, Tiberius." Obi-Wan murmured, "Master Yoda would be proud."

"And Master Qui-Gon?"

"He would be _beaming_. Your foster-parents did well."

"You did give them some specific instructions." Jim shrugged and took a seat at the small round table Chewie ushered them to, spinning the chair around to sit on it backwards. It wasn't long before Han Solo arrived. Jim got up when he saw the smuggler, "Han!"

"Hey, Jimmy! I knew I hadn't seen the last of you on Riseven! How're you doin', kid?" the smuggler beamed and dragged Jim into a hug, "What are you up to these days?"

"Oh, just the usual."

"Uh-huh. Who're your buddies?"

"Han Solo, this is my brother Luke Skywalker and _one _of my teachers, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Ah, yeah." Han smiled as he shook hands with them, taking note of Obi-Wan's attire, "You're one of the Jedi Knights. Smart move hiding out on Tatooine."

"Most of us are on Federation worlds, Captain Solo."

"I bet I know _why_." Han rolled his eyes and sat down, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Jim?" Obi-Wan looked at Jim, who nodded.

"We need a fast ship to take us to Alderaan."

"Alderaan? Why?"

"To warn them about the Empire and rescue our sister."

"I don't fly cheap and as much as I love you, Jimmy, I ain't doin' this for free."

"I wasn't expecting you to do it pro bono, Han, I know you too well." Jim smirked, "Name your price."

"Seventeen thousand, all in advance."

"Seventeen _thousand_!" Luke croaked, "We could almost buy our own_ ship _for that much!"

"And who's gonna fly it, kid?" Han sniped back, "_You_?"

"You bet I could! I'm not such a bad pilot myself!" Luke got to his feet in a huff, "This is ridiculous, we don't need to sit here and listen to…"

"Luke, stop it. We're a little short on time, the Millenium Falcon's our best bet." Jim turned to Han, who didn't seem too ruffled by Luke's outburst, "We can pay you fifteen now and another fifteen when we reach Alderaan."

"Twenty thousand? What kind of trouble are you _in_, kid?" the price named raised eyebrows.

"I _know _the Falcon's fast when she wants to be, the question is will she be fast _enough_."

"Fast enough for what, kid?"

"Outrunning Star Destroyers."

"Oh _that's _easy. The big Corellian cruisers? No _problem_!" Han beamed, "She might be a little fussy, but she won't disappoint." Han told them where the Falcon was docked and they left the cantina. Luke was on a high rage.

"How can you be so sure the Millenium Falcon's trustworthy? And what about _him_?"

"Han Solo's been a friend for a long time, the Falcon's gotten me out of some tight spots in the past. I trust both the ship and her captain." Jim looked at his brother and pulled up the hood of his jacket, "That ship's fast enough when she needs to be. She's not brand-new, but her age doesn't hurt her performance too badly." They focused on selling the speeder next and Luke complained when he got less for it than he thought it was worth, but Jim convinced him that it would be enough. Finding the Falcon's bay was easy, getting out was a little harder. Jim sprinted to the cockpit as a fire-fight raged outside, primed the front guns, and took careful aim. By the time Han got to the cockpit, they were ready to launch. Blasting out of the docking-bay, they headed for open space. That was just the beginning of Jim's misadventures and by no means the worst trouble he would get into between now and his return to Federation space.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

After escaping Tatooine, Jim had the sneaky feeling his troubles with the Empire and the Rebellion were just beginning. He never regretted what he'd done on Tatooine, but he did worry about his Cadets. Worry about his fellow Cadets deepened when, as he sat in the cockpit with Han, a sharp pain bloomed behind his eyes. Jim squeezed his eyes shut and doubled over, shielding himself from…something.

"Jimmy? Kid, you okay? You don't look so good." Han reached over and squeezed Jim's shoulder. Jim looked up as the pain faded, along with the faint screams.

"Something's happened."

"What?"

"Something's very wrong. Where's Obi-Wan?"

"Back in the passenger compartment with your brother. Jim, what's going on?" Han watched Jim get up, concerned.

"I don't know, but something terrible just happened." He left the cockpit and found Obi-Wan, who looked awful. He sat down next to the old Jedi, "Please tell me you felt that, Ben."

"I did. We must hope that our loved ones and friends are safe." Obi-Wan tried to smile but he couldn't. Luke went back to practicing with his lightsaber, a practice not entirely necessary but still useful. When they came out at Alderaan, Jim knew _exactly _what had happened and how.

"Tiberius, there weren't any Cadets on Alderaan were there?"

"I don't know how many groups were dropped on Imperial worlds and how many were on Federation worlds. I hope not, that's not a job I'd want." He shuddered as they cleared the debris field. Alderaan was gone, just…gone. As if it had never existed. They were buzzed by a TIE-fighter and Han, hot to shoot something, took off after it.

"Look, it's heading for that small moon!" Luke cried as they tried to run it down. Jim looked at the object looming in the view-port and knew they were in big trouble.

"That's not a moon, Luke, that's a battle-station!"

"I've never seen a battle station that big before!" Han shook his head, "It's too big to be a station!"

"Tiberius?"

"That's the Death Star." He swallowed hard, "Andorian spies brought us a copy of the plans for the Death Star a week ago. We were on Tatooine, but Dad told me all about it."

"Those are the same plans Artoo is carrying in his memory, no doubt. Would Starfleet Command have done anything about it?" Obi-Wan looked concerned.

"Probably not. Unless the Death Star posed a direct threat to the Federation, they wouldn't do anything, and there was never any indication the Empire was going to bother with us." Jim felt the deckplates shudder and heard Luke and Han arguing. They were tractored into a holding-bay aboard the Death Star, taken captive. Jim surprisingly felt no fear, and no real anger.

* * *

Getting off the Falcon and into the control room above wasn't hard, despite the amount of noise Han and Chewie made blasting everything they could see. Jim ran to the officer in charge, whom he had stunned a moment ago, checked his uniform, and quietly stripped out of his jumpsuit and duster.

"You make a very convincing officer, Tiberius." Obi-Wan smirked, "I leave you in charge here."

"Yes, Master." Jim nodded and watched him leave. Luke wasn't happy about that, and Han had his own opinions about the mess they were in. Artoo finally got their attention with strident beeping and whistling. He'd located Leia in the station itself, all they had to do now was a find a way to get to her, rescue her, and get out of the Death Star alive. With Jim disguised as an Imperial officer and Han and Luke posing as Storm Troopers with Chewie as their "prisoner", they went in search of Leia. They didn't have any trouble until they got to the detention level. They were greeted by a suspicious senior lieutenant, Jim had to resort to a mind-trick to keep him from calling for clearance.

"Do you question my authority to authorize and oversee a prisoner-transfer from one part of this station to another, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir." the man was grinding his teeth. Jim just arched an eyebrow. Behind him, Chewie broke his binders and grabbed Han's rifle. Jim hit the floor and covered his head. It was over quickly and Han pulled him from the floor.

"Good reflexes, kid. When you ducked, I got the bastard."

"Thanks. Now let's find my sister and get out of here." Jim looked up the number of the detention-cell they were holding Leia in and went to get her out. He found the cell and got the door open to find his sister asleep. She look alright, but the thought of her at the mercy of the Empire made him angry. He went into the cell and touched her on the shoulder. She woke with a start and he covered her mouth so she wouldn't scream.

"Shh."

"James!" she sat up, "What are you doing here?"

"We got your message, Leia." Jim helped her off the bench and led her out of the cell, "You're lucky I was on Tatooine at all."

"What were you doing there?"

"Fourteen Days of Hell."

"Basic Training? Oh, James, you did it!" Leia hugged him and he coaxed her out of the cell. Luke showed up with bad news. Someone had found out things weren't quite right and the detention area was under siege. Han joined them with Chewie.

"Should have killed that guy, kid! He talked!"

"They'd have found out some other way, Han, don't blame me!" Jim snarled, firing shots from his blaster. Leia got them a way out and it was down a garbage-chute. Jim was thinking if he got out of this mess alive, it would be a bloody miracle and nothing less. The Empire didn't exactly take prisoners and then just let them walk away.

* * *

After a close-call escape from the Death Star, Jim was relieved to arrive safely on Yavin IV. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the visit to Yavin IV made necessary by the death of Obi-Wan on the Death Star. That was something to worry about later, right now he had something else to worry about. When they set foot inside the temple that housed the Alliance base on Yavin IV, Jim instinctively looked around for any of his Cadets. Around here, a Starfleet Cadet would stand out. While Leia and Luke reunited with their father, who just smiled at Jim but said nothing, Jim quietly slipped away and wandered the bustling hangar. There were Incom T-65 X-wings in the hangar, and a lot of them. He ducked under the wing of the nearest fighter and touched the smooth, cool metal.

"Hey, Jim!" two voices called his name simultaneously, and Jim raised his head to find them. He saw two figures clad in the hazard-cone orange flight-suits waving furiously from an X-wing off to his right. They were sitting on the cockpit rim, looking for all the world like a pair of hotshot rookie kids having fun on the big deadly toy they'd been handed. He cocked his head to one side and studied the pair. One of the pilots was female, a pretty, dark-skinned girl of slight build. In the same moment he realized the difference in gender, Jim realized something else.

"Bones? Nyota?" he headed for the fighter they were sitting on and stopped at the foot of the ladder, staring up at them in utter shock, "You have _got _to be kidding me!"

"Cheers, kid!" his cranky doctor friend waved cheerfully.

"Bones, you _hate _space, and space-flight especially. What are you doing up there?"

"Wasting time until something interesting happens." Bones grinned down at him and Jim folded his arms.

"Alright. Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

"Aw, lighten up, Jimmy." Nyota pouted, "We found something Bones hates more than space-flight."

"And what, praytell, would _that _be?"

"The Empire."

"Oh." Jim looked around, "So, you hate the Empire more than you hate space and space-flight, and enough to overcome aviophobia in order to take up your place as an X-wing pilot?"

"Yep."

"Well _done_, Bones!" Jim smirked, "There's hope for you yet!"

"Hey, don't get all up in arms, kid, you're next."

"_Me_?"

"Yes you."

"Jimmy Skywalker?" someone on the ground called his name, Jim didn't think he'd ever been addressed _quite _like that before. He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Biggs Darklighter." The tall, broadshouldered man introduced himself, "I've been wondering how long I'd have to wait to meet you."

"Oh, you're Luke's friend!" Jim smiled and shook hands with the pilot, "He keeps talking about you."

"Hey, the feeling's mutual." Darklighter smiled and Jim looked over his shoulder at Bones and Nyota, shooting them a dirty look.

"I can't imagine the wild stories you've heard, sir."

"Nothing _too _bad, I promise." Darklighter chuckled and slung an arm around Jim's shoulders, "I hear you're kind of the leader of this crazy, rag-tag band Admiral Skywalker dumped on us."

"Twenty fresh-faced Cadet Trainees right out of Basic Training probably came as a bit of a shock to the Alliance Command." Jim could see most of his trainees from here, they seemed to be adapting well, "I can't begin to imagine what Starfleet Command will say when they find out we abandoned our trek on Tatooine for _this_."

"I always said stranding twenty kids in the middle of a wilderness was a poor way to judge their character and battle-readiness. You want to train good future officers?" Darklighter snorted, "Give them realistic situations, and I don't mean those pathetic simulations they shove down your throats. I mean real, first-hand experience on those starships or even _ours_, let them get a taste of what you're getting them into."

"You feel pretty strongly about that, don't you?"

"Hell yeah. When I realized we had twenty perfectly good recruits on our hands, I just got down on my knees and thanked every god I could name." Darklighter looked at Jim, "Your Cadets need experiential training, _we _need pilots and technicians."

"Looks like most of them picked option one." Jim looked at Bones, "Including my aviophobic doctor friend. How did you talk him into that, by the way?"

"We didn't, he decided the Empire was more hateful than space-flight."

"Wow. Man, if you could have seen the mess I sat next to on the shuttle three months ago, you wouldn't believe it was the same person."

"Speaking of people." Darklighter shook him by the shoulder, "Come on, kid, let's get you suited up." Jim didn't ask, he just followed. Fifteen minutes later, he was suited up in the familiar bright orange flight-suit and all accessory gear. Darklighter even showed him _his _X-wing. It was the same one Jim had been standing under when Bones and Nyota got to him. Giddy and wavering on exhaustion, Jim climbed the ladder and sat down on the cockpit rim, watching the bustle of the hangar. He did some thinking, reflecting on what had happened and how this would change everything.

* * *

Along with the flight-suit and X-wing, Jim also got a rank and a responsibility. He was, for as long as he was _with _the Alliance, a Lieutenant Commander and would answer to the call-sign of Rogue Leader. Twenty trainees had picked the dangerous path and enlisted as pilots, Jim had the fun job of splitting them up. Ten of them would answer to Rogue call-signs, the remaining ten would answer to a differing, unique call-sign of their own. He decided to get creative and named the second battle-group Ghost Squadron. They had no leader, answering to him, and the first of those ten responded to Ghost One.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Less than forty-eight hours later, Jim was scrambling for his X-wing. The Death Star was in the system and closing on Yavin IV, Jim knew Yavin VI would be next without question. As he dropped into the cockpit, his flight-crew finished up with the X-wing and he took his helmet from the crew-chief. His cockpit hatch sealed and he checked his flight-instrumentation. When he got the thumbs-up, he maneuvered onto the central aisle and aimed straight.

"Alright back there, ArCee?" he called. His astro-droid, a chirpy unit named RC-10 gave an affirmative whistle. In no time, they were airborne and on their way to rendezvous. Jim watched as Rogue Squadron and Ghost Squadron dropped into position and listened as they made their call-ins one by one. For this suicide-run, Bones and Nyota were his wingmen. Wherever he went, whatever he did, they were right there with him.

"Rogue Group, Ghost Group, this is Rogue Leader. Listen up. It's gonna get hot and close down there once we reach the Death Star. No matter _what _happens, stay with your wingman. We will be running cover for Red Group and Gold Group. Whenever they make a run, we'll cover for them as needed. Engage any and all enemy fighters and keep the air clear for them. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Rogue Leader." He got nineteen affirmatives and looked to his right, "How are you holding, Rogue One?"

"Give me something to shoot at, Rogue Leader, and I'll be a _lot _happier."

"You know I wouldn't have held it against you if you changed your mind Rogue One." Jim could _hear _the tension in Bones's voice.

"I picked the greater of two evils this time, kid."

"Fair enough. Lock S-foils into attack position." He flipped the proper switch and said a quick prayer. If this didn't work, it wasn't _just _the Alliance who would be in deep trouble, the Federation would have problems of it's own.

* * *

As long as everything seemed to take once they engaged the Empire, it all seemed to be over too fast. One minute Jim was shooting TIE bogeys, the next he was hauling ass to beat out a spectacular disintegration as the Death Star went boom. It had all happened so quickly, he was still trying to figure it out. He had been hurtling down that narrow canyon at dangerously high speed, depending on bare eyesight and instinct to tell him when to fire the damn missiles, three TIEs on his ass, Luke, Bones, and Nyota circling overhead and in full panic mode, when the Millenium Falcon had come soaring out of the sun, blown two of the three TIE fighters to smithereens and given Jim the perfect opening. Seizing the chance to pay a favor back, he fired the missiles and prayed. It was good and away, time to run. That reminded him of something. He reached over and switched on his com-link.

"Hey, Han."

"Yeah, Jimmy?"

"How many do I owe you _now_?"

"You don't owe me for _that _one, kid."

"Bullshit I don't."

"Look, I'll collect when _I _need a favor, alright?"

"Fair enough." Jim smirked, "Hey, Luke, you alright back there?"

"I've been better."

"Figures. Bones?" comm.-silence. Jim rolled his eyes, "Rogue One?"

"My _teeth _are chattering so hard I can barely talk."

"Only to be expected when you do the one thing you absolutely hate the most to defeat the one thing you hated more." Jim smiled, "Don't worry, Bones, we made it."

"Yeah, yeah we did." Bones sounded a little stronger. Jim looked behind him at the rag-tag band of twenty-two star-fighters clustered together as they limped home and felt a stab of pride.

* * *

Hours later, Jim joined Luke and Han on a podium as a hero of the Alliance. Leia looked absolutely radiant in her white gown, his father looked sharp in dress-uniform. Jim found it ironic and fitting that his father had forgone Alliance dress-uniform for a green-and-white Starfleet dress-uniform with the rank-stripes and shoulder-tabs of Admiral. Jim wore the same uniform with the rank-stripes and shoulder-tabs of Lieutenant Commander. The ceremony was blissfully _short_, the celebrations that followed it were not.

Hours later, with a beer in one hand, Jim sat in a corner with his pilots.

"Well, this sure beats trekking across the Dune Sea for two weeks, huh?"

"I don't know about that, but we sure _learned _a lot more than we would have." Bones mused, leaning his head back.

"I'll say." Jim smirked, "We learned there's one thing you hate more than space-flight." The others laughed and ribbed Bones, who glared at Jim with very little heat behind it.

"I have as many reasons as _you _do to hate the Empire, Skywalker."

"I think everyone in this _room _has reasons to hate the Empire. Whether they have more or not doesn't matter." Jim shrugged. It took him a minute to realize that Bones had called him Skywalker. A few minutes later, Bones vanished. Jim went to find him and found him standing outside, staring up at the stars. They could see the remains of the Death Star burning in the atmosphere, and Jim wondered how long they would be there.

"Bones?" he stood by his friend and wingman, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Liar. I'm standing right next to you and the sheer volume of _hate _would knock me over if I was anyone else." Jim went around in front of Bones, "You changed your name, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bones snarled. Jim arched an eyebrow.

"Oh yes you _do_. If I was two when they razed the Temple, you were five. Tell me you don't remember _that_."

"Of course I do! Of course I remember that!" Bones spat hatefully, "I remember where I was _hiding_, for Chrissakes!"

"The High Council Chamber, at the top of the tower. You and nine other Younglings were hiding up there, or trying to." Jim faced the rainforest beyond the temple, "Do you remember anything else?"

"I remember the Jedi Knight who found us there and then kept us safe by transporting us out of the Temple. He had some weird kind of magic he used to save us, I remember he stayed behind to face Anakin Skywalker. I had Tiberius Skywalker with me, he was only two."

"Bones?"

"Hmm?"

"Look at me." Jim waited for Bones to focus on him, "Do you remember what the Knight looked like?"

"Yeah."

"Look at me, then remember that Knight's face." He watched Bones, saw the recognition and understanding.

"Holy god! That was _you_?"

"I messed up my own past to save my future." Jim looked up at the stars, "Do you remember what my father told you when he gave me to you before the Clones came?"

"He…told me to take care of you…to make sure you were kept safe." Bones blinked, "They took you away when it was over, and I just remember I screamed and cried because I couldn't understand why they didn't want me to take care of you anymore."

"And I was too young to understand anything beyond knowing that something was making you upset." Jim sighed, "Dad told me once that taking me away was the hardest thing he ever did. Harder than turning on Palpatine."

"_That _took guts." Bones made a face and finished off his beer, "Gutsy and stupid, but it worked."

"Taking on the Death Star in snub-fighters was gutsy and stupid, and _that _worked." Jim reminded him, "So, when did Leonard McCoy start sounding better than Lanke Qusell*?"

"It sounded _normal_. Do you have any idea what people would think if they heard my real name?"

"Hmm, yeah. You have a point." Jim turned to go back inside, "I guess Lanke Qusell _is _a little on the weird side for Terrans."

"Just a little. So, we're good?" Bones caught up with him. Jim looked at his friend and smirked.

"You start wearing your lightsaber in plain view and we'll call it even."

"No."

"Don't be an ass, Bones."

"Forget it! I don't even know where my lightsaber _is_ right now!"

"Then we'll just build you a new one. They seeded some kyber crystals on Yavin VI, we'll go there after things calm down."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I need to build another one anyway, so I'll go with you."

"What's wrong with the one you have?"

"It's the same lightsaber I've owned since I was thirteen. Time for a new one, at least a new crystal."

"Oh, true." Bones shrugged, "All right. We can go to Yavin IV."

"Right now, though, sleep sounds like a _really _good idea." Jim headed inside, Bones followed. They made it as far as Jim's quarters and got out of their clothes, stripping to tee-shirts and boxers before collapsing on the bed. With any luck at all, they would have no dreams.

* * *

Two days later, Jim and Bones flew their X-wings to Yavin VI. Nyota joined them last-minute and the three of them searched for the crystal-patch near the Sensora Temple. By sundown, they had completed their lightsabers. They spent the night in the Sensora Temple, it was easier than flying back to Yavin IV. Jim told Qui-Gon about Obi-Wan, and how they'd taken on and defeated the Empire together a few days ago. He was proud of them for taking the risk, and wished them well at Starfleet Academy. Jim looked at his wingmen and just smiled. With this kind of experience under their belts, Jim had the feeling Wolf Squadron would be leaps and bounds ahead of their classmates. But that was just _his _opinion.

* * *

*Lanke Qusell (pr. Lan-kay Cue-sell): Dr. McCoy's name before he fled the Empire and adopted an entirely unassuming Terran name and lifestyle.

**_We'll see more of Jedi!Bones and Jedi!Jim in future chapters, I promise! Read on, enjoy, and don't flame me, please! I'm just playing with the sand that fell out of the sandboxes of Mr. Lucas and Mr. Abrams, and of course Mr. Roddenberry, may he Rest In Peace._**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

As the two-week survival trek marking the end of Basic Training wrapped up, Christopher Pike was starting to worry about his Cadets. He'd left Jim Kirk with nineteen trainees on the desolate world of Tatooine, essentially stranding Jim on his own homeworld. He'd done that on purpose. Jim knew Tatooine, he knew how to survive the deserts, and if he decided to stay with his family or masters, that was fine. It was all a learning experience. However, most of the supervisors had at least heard from their Cadets during the trek, he hadn't heard a peep out of Jim's group since leaving them on the Dune Sea. Part of him feared the worst, another part of him scoffed. Jim was too smart, too resourceful. He could only hope to hear from them before the end of Basic Training.

He was seriously considering going out early to find them, but he didn't end up having to go anywhere. Richard Barnett stopped by his office one day looking displeased. He was confused, he didn't like being confused.

"What can I do for you, Admiral?"

"Where, precisely, did you leave Jim Kirk?"

"I left them on Tatooine. Why?"

"You'd better come with me, Captain." Oh, that was not good. Christopher could only imagine the sheer level of hell he was about to stand through, and dreaded it. Something had happened to Jim and the Cadets, something awful. Barnett led him to one of the hangars, the sense of dread deepened.

"Admiral, what's going on?" he asked tamely. Suddenly, he heard the whine of afterburners. Christopher looked up and shaded his eyes. Three fighters of a strange make sailed past at low cruising altitude, pulled off a perfect banking turn, and disappeared.

"Captain Pike?"

"Those are X-Wings!"

"What?" Barnett was glaring at him.

"Incom T-56 X-Wings!" As they watched, more appeared. Christopher followed the flight-path to the hangar they were heading for on foot and ran inside to find the fighters clustered in battle-ready launch-patterns. There were now twenty, the last six had just landed. Christopher skated to a halt, trying to catch his breath, "Oh my god! I think I know what happened to my Cadets, sir!" Barnett was fuming. Jim and nineteen Cadets had gone AWOL for a week and a half, and returned in fine, if unusual, style. Each pilot stood by his or her X-Wing, Christopher was just relieved to count twenty X-Wings and twenty pilots. He didn't miss the fact that every single one of them wore the trade-mark hazard-cone orange flight-gear, their helmets tucked under their left arm. He saw Jim standing with two of his pilots, Christopher recognized Nyota Uhura and Leonard McCoy.

* * *

Barnett stormed past him and just laid into the Cadets, berating them and accusing them of disobeying orders and going AWOL, and who knew what else. The Cadets simply stood quietly under scrutiny, but Christopher could see them seething. They were being accused of jacking off and messing around, being no-good hooligans causing trouble wherever they went. And of course he tore Jim to pieces. Christopher stood quietly by and watched, it was all he could do. These were his recruits, and Jim had done the impossible bringing everyone home from some engagement that had tested them in ways the survival treks never would. Surviving a wilderness was one thing, surviving close-quarters combat with enemy fighters was something else entirely.

"Admiral Barnett, with all due respect, sir, I must disagree with you."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, sir, that I must disagree with you." Jim met Barnett's gaze with unnerving calm, "We had only enough time to make the most basic of repairs to our X-Wings before we departed Yavin IV to return home. Each and every one of these fighters bears kill-marks on the cockpit-rims. Some of us have more than others, but we all carry kill-marks. If not for us, and every pilot we flew with a week ago, the Federation would now be under assault."

"From what enemy forces?"

"The Empire." Jim's voice was cold as he stood up to Barnett, "The pilots you see here were left on Tatooine to survive fourteen days in the Dune Sea. The Rebel Alliance had need of pilots, I had my own reasons to go. My sister was captive of the Empire, yes it was personal. I destroyed the Empire's Death Star."

"Oh my god."

"Yes, Admiral." Jim didn't outwardly show any glee at Barnett's reaction. Christopher felt sick. He'd heard rumors of the Empire's super-weapon, spies had brought word of it and plans had been stolen. But Christopher hadn't actually expected anyone in the Federation to get so closely involved with the damn thing!

"It…existed?"

"And one planet has already been destroyed by it, sir. Alderaan is nothing more than an asteroid field. I am incredibly fortunate my family remains safe and intact." Jim raised his chin, "You left me nineteen survivors of Basic Training, I brought back tested pilots, efficient members of a fully-operational team. In the future, Admiral, you might consider giving Cadet Trainees some real-life experience before you unleash them untried and undisciplined to starships and planetary posts."

"You have some nerve, Kirk. You'll wish you'd never left Tatooine for a personal vendetta against…"

"Admiral Barnett, with your leave, sir." Jim cut a sharp, abrupt salute, cutting off Barnett's rant, and made a gesture with his free hand. Before Barnett could stop them, all twenty pilots had left the hangar. Christopher looked at Barnett and smirked.

"You might want to pick your fights more wisely in the future, Admiral. There's absolutely nothing to keep Skywalker and his pilots from abandoning Starfleet for the Alliance. And a little respect wouldn't hurt you, either. If he destroyed the Death Star, he didn't just save the Alliance, he saved the Federation."

"He didn't destroy the Death Star, that's impossible!"

"Willing to bet on that, sir?" Christopher pointed out a kill-mark on Jim's X-Wing, "Good morning, sir." He left Barnett fuming and went to find the X-Wing pilots. Or at least find Jim. Whichever came first. Part of him knew Admiral Skywalker would have absolutely no problem whatsoever with what Jim and his pilots had gotten into, hell the man had probably slapped them commissions to front-row seats to see history in action and actually _do _something about it. He wondered what kind of rank Jim and the others had, and suspected they'd earned whatever they held.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**_Here be the beginning of ST:XI. Familiar adventures abound with a new twist! Enjoy!_**

**_Several people address Jim as Skywalker instead of Kirk, just FYI, please don't get too confused and then yell at me because I keep name-changing. Thanks!_**

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter Sixteen

Three years after the Battle of Yavin, Jim and Wolf Squadron found themselves thrust into combat once again. This time, however, it was different. Jim was grounded after he was accused of cheating on the Kobayashi Maru, Starfleet Academy's unbeatable training simulation. He hadn't cheated, it was completely original thinking, but the test's programmer didn't like the fact that a measly Human had beat his "unbeatable" test. Jim could see why Biggs Darklighter had hated these things, all they did was teach you how to fail and feel like shit later because you knew there was no way to win. The court-martial was cut short and the assembled student body was dismissed to report to their stations aboard a fleet of eight ships in orbit around Earth. When assignments were handed down, Jim's name was not called. Bones and Nyota were furious, but Jim had an idea.

"How will you get to the Enterprise, Jim?"

"The same way the rest of you will." Jim looked around for the Enterprise shuttles.

"You boys go ahead, I'll catch up." Nyota whispered. She was fuming. After everything she'd done, everything she'd accomplished, she had been passed over a commission for the Enterprise and was instead assigned to the USS Farragut. Jim quietly reminded her that at least she had a commission. While she went off to confront Commander Spock, Jim and Bones headed for the nearest Enterprise shuttle. Instead of a flight-officer, they found Hikaru Sulu waiting for them. Jim smirked.

"Lieutenant Sulu."

"Commander Skywalker." Sulu cut a neat salute, "There should be a few seats left, sir."

"Good man."

"Where is Lieutenant Uhura, sir?"

"Oh, she's coming. Don't worry, Wolf Six." Jim clapped his loyal pilot on the shoulder, "She'd kill me if I left without her, I kind of like my head where it is." Sulu just smiled and Jim ducked into the shuttle. Everyone except Nyota was there, he counted all nineteen of his pilots and a few extras. Nyota arrived five minutes later with Gaila Pardee in tow. Jim smiled as the girls sat down and buckled his harness. The shuttle launched and Jim looked out as they left Earth behind. He had the window-seat, Bones still had a wariness for space-flight unless he was in the cockpit of his X-Wing. Jim could understand why he preferred the X-Wing to something bigger, he had more control in the X-Wing, full control now that they had upgraded their fighters to a fully automatic system complete with specialized hyper-drives and copilot computers to replace their droids. When they came into view of the armada, Jim took one look at the Enterprise and X-Wings were forgotten.

"Wow, look at her!"

"Isn't she something?" Bones breathed, "Prettiest death-trap I've ever seen." Several of their pilots snickered. When they reached the Enterprise, they were assigned divisions, except for Jim, who went to see Captain Pike while the rest of them got settled.

* * *

Christopher Pike was finishing up a few last-minute tasks before the Enterprise launched, going over crew rosters and division assignments for the Cadets. He couldn't help noticing that, somehow, he had ended up with Wolf Squadron in full force, give or take a few. Missing from the roster were Wolf Leader, Wolf Three, and Wolf Seven. He frowned and checked their statuses. Wolf Three and Wolf Seven had been assigned to the USS Farragut, Wolf Leader had been put on Academic Suspension. It was the only time Chris despised his First Officer. It was petty jealousy that had spurred Spock's actions, Chris had always thought the half-Vulcan above that kind of thing. Suddenly, an update was posted. Nyota Uhura and Gaila Pardee had been reassigned to the Enterprise at the request of Commander Spock, but there was no change in Jim Kirk's status. This would fray Admiral Skywalker's edges for sure, Christopher thought blandly. He rarely saw the man get angry, but Anakin Skywalker was notorious for spending most of his time and energy with the Rebel Alliance. The man was also very fond and supportive of all of his children, especially his first-born son. Christopher wouldn't wish Anakin Skywalker's fury on anyone, but that's what Spock would face if and when the admiral found out about his son's current issues. As he was contemplating this, he heard the lock of his door give way and looked up. That door was sealed against break-in, unless you knew how to break a lock without codes. The door opened and admitted a confident Jim Kirk. Christopher just smiled.

"So, I have the honor of Wolf Squadron's service to the flagship. Has Doctor McCoy complained?"

"He doesn't know that there are twenty X-Wings in Shuttle Bay 2. I can't wait to tell him."

"Or show him. I knew you'd find a way aboard the Enterprise, Skywalker. Have you run into Commander Spock yet?"

"No, sir. I figure it will only be a matter of time before I encounter your bitter First Officer." Jim wiggled his eyebrows, "He just doesn't like me because I outsmarted his "unbeatable" test."

"But you didn't exactly cheat." Christopher smirked, "Go get into uniform, you'll be bunking with Doctor McCoy, and stay out of trouble."

"Yes, sir." Jim saluted and disappeared. Shaking his head, Christopher finished up pre-launch procedure and placed a call through to the Star of Osiris.

* * *

After finagling a few uniforms out of the Quartermaster, Jim found his quarters, made himself at home, and went to "stay out of trouble". He hunted down his roommate and found Bones hard at work in Sickbay. Jim quietly glanced at his friend's belt and smirked. Sneaking up behind his wingman, he hugged Bones from behind and almost sent the man to the ceiling.

"Jim!"

"You're wearing your lightsaber, Bones."

"Damn it, Jim! How'd you sneak up on me like that?"

"It's not really _that _hard." He gave his best friend his most charming smile. Bones glared at him, or tried to, but he just couldn't. To stay out of trouble, he followed Bones around Sickbay for a while before moving on to bother Gaila and Nyota in Engineering. When the Navigator announced their mission and what it entailed, Jim grabbed Nyota and Gaila, ran to find Bones, and stormed the bridge.

* * *

The relative quiet of the bridge was rudely disrupted when the doors flew open and Jim Kirk rushed onto the bridge followed by three of his pilots. Christopher Pike didn't have to ask to know something was seriously wrong.

"Jim?"

"You have to stop the Enterprise, Captain! It's not a natural disaster!" Jim caught the rail, the only thing that stopped him. It was also the only thing to keep him on his feet. Christopher did not miss the pained expression on his face. People were dying, and Jim could feel every death.

"Kirk, you are not cleared to serve aboard this ship." Spock got himself involved and Christopher just closed his eyes for a minute to pray for Spock's wisdom. Four Alliance pilots, four of their _best _pilots in fact, looked at each other before they turned to the First Officer and looked at him.

"With all due respect, Commander Spock, I think we have a slightly bigger problem here than you accusing me of cheating. I did not cheat, we both know that, you just don't like the idea of a measly Human beating your stupid test." Jim never smiled, or grinned, or gave any indication that he was yanking Spock's chain so to speak.

"Cadet Kirk…"

"It's Commander." Jim raised one hand to show the rank-stripes on his sleeve, but he was also doing something else, "Commander, your home-world and your people are under threat from malevolent enemy forces that don't quite scare me the way they should, and _you're _picking a fight over academic conduct? I'd be more worried about Vulcan and it's people than that damn test of yours." Oh, Jim was _good_. Of course, he was half-Skywalker. Born out of extraordinary circumstances, to one of the most powerful Knights of the Jedi Order, in hiding since the age of two, in exile since ten. Spock geared up for a smack-down fight, Jim stopped him.

"Commander, you don't want to fight me for any reason. After what I saw and did three years ago, I think I can tell you there are bigger things in this universe than you and me."

"And _what_ did you do? What did you see?" Spock snarled. Jim's eyes narrowed to slits. Oh, this was not good, but Christopher knew better than to break it up between them.

"Captain Pike, if you would?"

"Lieutenant Sulu, prepare to break warp on my mark."

"Aye, sir." Sulu, one of Jim's pilots and a bloody loyal one, just nodded.

* * *

When Jim Kirk arrived on the bridge and told Captain Pike they had to break warp, Spock was far from thrilled to see him and reminded him that he was on suspension and therefore banned from service. Kirk turned on him and Spock had the feeling he'd just picked a fight with the wrong person. It was rare he got that gut-feeling, but the fact that all three of Kirk's cohorts were giving him a similar look of disdain, Lieutenant Uhura's bearing a touch of malice, told him this wasn't the time to bring up the Kobayashi Maru. When Kirk mentioned that Vulcan was under threat from enemy forces that, as he said, didn't scare him quite the way they should, Spock wondered who this upstart Human thought he was. Kirk then proceeded to bring up some events that had taken place three years ago, something he had done and seen.

"And _what_ did you do? What did you see?" Spock snarled. Kirk's eyes narrowed to slits. He spoke to Pike first, then gave his full attention to Spock.

"Remember Alderaan." Two words. At first, they meant nothing to Spock.

But he remembered seeing twenty small snub-fighters tucked away in Shuttle Bay 2, all twenty of them bearing kill-marks of some kind. Curious, he'd gone for a closer look at some of them. On the cockpit-rims above the kill-marks were names. J. Skywalker, L. McCoy, N. Uhura, G. Pardee, and H. Sulu were among the names listed. Emblazoned on the helmets were several emblems. Two coats-of-arms adorned the helmets, a stylized trident of some kind and a wolf's head in silhouette on opposite sides of the helmets.

He remembered seeing these same fighters at the Academy, wondering why the Board allowed them to remain. It was some elite student-group that called itself Wolf Squadron, that's all he knew of them. Rumor floated around campus that some of the pilots were Jedi Knights hiding from the Galactic Empire that hunted their kind to the death. Spock returned his focus to the pilots before him, and frowned. He looked past Kirk to McCoy.

"I was under the impression you disdained space-flight, Doctor McCoy."

"Yeah, well, I hate the Galactic Empire more than I hate flying."

"I see."

"Commander, we have a situation on our hands that doesn't make the Battle of Yavin seem insignificant, but it's definitely a problem. I would _really _hate to involve Admiral Skywalker if I didn't have to." Kirk looked at him calmly, but the threat was thinly-veiled. Spock knew when to pick his fights, and which fights to pick. This was not one of them. Without a word, he backed down. The Enterprise shuddered as they emerged from warp and almost immediately they were pulling outrageous maneuvers to avoid colliding with debris. It was all that remained of seven ships. Spock glanced at Kirk, who gripped the railing tight enough to turn his knuckles white.

"Skywalker?"

"They had no chance, no warning, no escape." Kirk looked at him, "Commander, we just lost thirteen thousand, two hundred and sixty-seven officers and crew."

"You felt their deaths."

"Every single one of them." Kirk looked ahead, "Just like Alderaan. Please don't let this turn into another Alderaan." Spock couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like to _know _that kind of pain. Clearing the debris field, they encountered a massive ship unlike anything Spock had seen before. Kirk and McCoy and the others made a weird noise.

"Still smaller than the Death Star." McCoy whispered. They were hailed by the Romulans, for it _was _a Romulan ship, and a bizarre exchange took place.

"Skywalker, deploy as many of your pilots as you can spare. Start the evacuations if they haven't already begun." Pike was giving orders as they left the bridge. Kirk nodded and broke off to round up a token force of pilots. Spock accepted full responsibility of the Enterprise when Pike gave it to him, and Kirk was made First Officer. Spock didn't see Kirk again until he went to rescue the High Command. Kirk appeared in uniform after leaving the transporter room as he came in, and Spock didn't stop him from coming.

* * *

Upon returning from Vulcan with a fraction of the High Command, clutching Amanda Grayson by the arm to keep her safe, Jim Kirk was reeling. The sheer force of a planet destroying itself was giving him a bitch of a headache. With the death of so many Vulcans following the deaths of seven crews, Jim felt himself fall backwards when Vulcan went the way of Alderaan. Bones and Spock caught him as he sank to the floor, someone lifted him onto the nearby bed.

"What happened to him, Doctor?"

"If I had to guess? Vulcan's gone the way of Alderaan. With seven ships gone before it, I'm not surprised he did this." He heard Bones.

_Skywalker?_

_Spock?_

_Will you be alright? _Jim's eyes flew open at that one. He glared at Spock.

"I'm not so emotionally crippled I can't do my _job_, Captain!" he snapped, fighting to sit up. For once, Bones let him. Jim stared at the floor for such a long time he heard Bones telling Spock to leave off for a while, stay out of the way. He found a release and looked at Bones, who just gave him that sly smile as he set to work on Jim's multitude of injuries.

"For what it's worth, I don't like him much either." Bones said quietly, "He's a prick."

"He has a superiority complex that makes me want to rip his head off. But I'm better than that, it's not the way of the Jedi to act on feelings of anger or rage like that."

"That's good common sense, I guess all that training _was _good for something after all." Bones just kept to his work and Jim looked around the crowded Sickbay. He'd survived worse than _this_, defeating the Romulans shouldn't be _too _hard if he just planned his moves carefully.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

After being released from Sickbay and getting into a fight with Spock, Jim found himself stranded in a familiar wasteland. Marooned for telling the Captain he was an idiot, left to die of hypothermia on the wastes of Hoth unless something decided to eat him first. The Federation called this particular frozen hell Delta Vega, the Alliance called it home. For now, at least. Jim got his bearings, recorded a log-entry, and set off for Echo Base. It was the safest place to go, and he had the feeling someone was already waiting for him in the relative safety of the base.

* * *

Leia Organa leaned over a radar-station, hoping that the massive burst of signal-activity in the area hadn't already brought the Empire to their doorstep. Just over an hour ago, they had watched, horror-stricken, as the neighboring ally world of Vulcan had consumed itself, taking with it innumerable lives. Scans had detected Federation ships in the area, and a massive enemy ship that had no interest at all in the Alliance. As it was, they sheltered untold refugees from the ships, and several Vulcans as well. Another Federation ship had passed close through the system, she was hoping they weren't leading the Empire straight here. Leia jumped nearly a foot when a hand landed on her shoulder. She thought it was Han Solo, or her brother, Luke Skywalker, and turned to give them a piece of her mind for sneaking up on her like that. But it wasn't Han, and it wasn't Luke. Leia stood in utter shock and stared for so long, the man who'd taken her by surprise actually smiled.

"Surprise ya, little sister?"

"James!" she threw her arms around her brother, thrilled to see him, "What are you _doing _here?"

"Same thing the rest of your refugees are doing. I saw a few of our officers and tons of Vulcans."

"Oh, wait until Han and Luke find out you're here!" James just smirked and hugged her tightly. Something was wrong, though, his whole frame trembled. He went to get out of his gear, returning a short time later in Alliance cold-weather gear, and told her all of what had happened. Vulcan _was _gone, and the ship they'd detected going out of the system was the Enterprise. He was the ship's First Officer in place of it's usual First Officer, who was Captain since their commissioned Captain was being held hostage by a ship of Romulan crusaders bent on destroying the Federation by any means necessary.

"Oh, James."

"None of us are safe now, Leia. All we can do is survive." He looked so old, so wise when he said that, Leia felt so sorry for him. She knew he didn't want her pity and would come for comfort when he wanted it, not when she thought he needed it.

* * *

Wandering Echo Base, Jim stumbled across Han Solo arguing with a deck officer.

"What's going on here?"

"Luke hasn't checked in, at either entrance or by radio." Han looked at Jim, his frustration gnawing at Jim.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir, we've checked with all of our wardens."

"And that storm's not getting better." Jim turned from them.

"Commander Skywalker, sir, where are you going?"

"My brother's out there, I'm not leaving him out there to freeze to death!" Jim snarled.

"I'm coming with you, kid, you're no good to us or the Federation dead!" Han grabbed his stuff and followed Jim. They mounted a pair of Taun-Tauns and rode out into the blizzard to find Luke. Jim found him first and cursed his bad luck when his Taun-Taun just fell over and died of sheer cold. Dropping to his knees beside his brother, he tired to keep Luke coherent.

"Luke! Focus, brother, stay with me!" he grit his teeth against the cold, "I really don't want to die here!"

"J-Jim…Dagobah…" Luke tossed his head, "Yoda…Jedi…"

"Oh, this is bad." Jim yanked off a glove with his teeth and dragged Luke over to his Taun-Taun, digging out a thermal-blanket and throwing it over his brother while he tried to set up a tent. Han arrived and helped him get the tent erected, using their Taun-Tauns for a windbreak. It was a long, cold, bizarre night.

* * *

The next morning, when they were evacuating the base ahead of an Imperial ground-assault, Jim caught up with Spock Prime and got back to the Enterprise. He had a few extras this time, an odd fellow named Montgomery Scott, who was supposedly one of Starfleet's finest engineers. Or _would _be, if Spock Prime was right. His father also accompanied them. When they touched down on the Enterprise, Jim had to save Scott from the water-turbine, and try to outwit Security at the same time. It didn't take long for Security to corner them, and even _less _time for Security to realize they were arresting a Starfleet Admiral. Of course, Jim's generous use of the Force didn't make it easy on them either. He disarmed Richard Kadinski of his pistol one-handed.

"As much as you hate my guts, Kadinski, it's gonna look _really _bad on your record if it gets out you arrested Admiral Skywalker's son."

"You're trespassing, wormie!"

"No I'm not." Jim rolled his eyes, "Kadinski, I'm an officer of Starfleet and the Rebel Alliance, an officer in the direct chain of command aboard the Enterprise. My father is an _Admiral _of the same." Uncertain and unarmed, Kadinski had Jim and Scott taken into custody but left Jim's father well enough alone.

"I'll be up shortly to tell Spock kicking you off for talking sense into him was a really stupid thing to do."

"I'm looking forward to that, actually. I don't think he took me seriously the first time." Jim just smiled. He was interested to see how things had gone while he'd been stranded on Hoth with the Alliance. Off to the bridge, then, to see what Spock would do when he showed up again.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Leonard McCoy was honestly considering stealing his X-Wing and going to find Jim when he saw Nyota Uhura straighten in her chair. He went to her station and leaned over the back of her chair, "What is it?"

"Jim!" she whispered, looking at him, her eyes bright, "He's back!"

"About damn time he got here. Is he okay?"

"I think he's okay. That's not all." Nyota smirked, "He didn't come alone!"

"Who came with him?" Leonard frowned, wondering what kind of trouble Jim had gotten himself into on Hoth. Nyota arched an eyebrow but said nothing. Leonard shrugged. What? She coughed.

"Admiral Skywalker?" he mouthed, just a wild guess. Nyota glanced at the doors as they opened and Leonard straightened. Jim came in, held by two Security officers. Kadinski looked like a proud lion. Jim was completely calm, and Leonard knew personally how easy it would be for him to teach Spock a lesson. Spock demanded answers Jim wasn't giving him and Leonard snorted. Using a different tactic, Spock turned his back on Jim and sat down in the command chair.

"Take Commander Kirk to detention and keep him there until I figure out what to do with him."

"Nice try, _Commander_." Jim said coldly, "Get out of my chair." Uh-oh. Is _that _what this came to? A dominance-fight on the bridge? And for what it was worth, Kadinski wasn't in a huge hurry to follow orders to detain Jim, Captain's orders or not.

"Excuse me?" Spock didn't seem intimidated at all.

"Oh you heard me!" Jim snarled, circling the chair that _was _his, by every right, "I said get…_out_…of…my…chair." Not that Leonard was surprised, but Spock didn't budge. Well, maybe Jim couldn't get Spock out of that chair, but someone else could. The doors opened again and Spock jumped out of the chair in a hurry. Anyone sitting _down _got up in a hurry, actually. Leonard knew Anakin Skywalker, he knew what the man looked like mad, and he knew that Anakin Skywalker was _mad_.

"Admiral Skywalker!"

"Commander Spock. It seems you've come a long way since the last time we engaged." Yep, Admiral Skywalker was pissed. He looked around the bridge, silent and tense, and one eyebrow went up, "What seems to be the problem here, Commander?"

"Several rules of conduct have been violated, sir."

"By?"

"Your son, sir."

"Really?" Admiral Skywalker was leading Spock along, and enjoying it way too much. Leonard glanced at Nyota, who had gotten up from her station, and at Jim, who had quietly joined him.

"Yes, sir." Spock didn't seem to understand quite the degree of trouble he was going to be in. Admiral Skywalker looked at Leonard and Jim.

"You say my son has broken rules, Commander. Which rules?"

"It is not so much that he has broken rules, Admiral, but that he _cheated_."

"On what, precisely?"  
"He was banned from service on an active Academic Suspension for cheating on the Kobayashi Maru." Spock said it without thinking. Leonard saw the admiral's eyes grow narrow and reflexively gulped. Uh-oh.

"And, ah, who slapped him with a charge of Academic Dishonesty that landed him a suspension when we needed every able-bodied Cadet Officer we could get our _hands _on?" Admiral Skywalker snarled, "Commander, what the _hell _were you thinking? My son never cheated and you _know _that! For a man who prides himself on being fair and even-tempered, I'd say you're a sore loser, Commander." Spock realized he'd picked the wrong fight with the wrong people, Leonard saw him pale.

"Sir?"

"You hit my son where you _knew _it would hurt because all _he _did was a find a legitimate way to beat that stupid little test of yours. Did Captain Pike leave you as Acting Captain?"

"Yes, sir, he did."

"Do you have any experience leading a crew into the heat of battle, Commander?"

"Why would that matter?"

"Just answer the question."

"I am a Science Officer, sir, Captain Pike hand-picked me for the mission to stand as his First Officer."

"That's a lousy excuse for what you did to my son and an even lousier one for what you're doing right now. Commander Spock, you are dismissed from duty until further notice." Well, that was direct. They watched him leave.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Who will take my place?" Spock looked worried. Leonard hated the Vulcan so much at that moment he wanted to _break _something fragile. But he was better than that.

"_Your _First Officer will take your place, Commander. Dismissed." Admiral Skywalker put more than just a little suggestion behind those words. Spock wanted to say something but thought twice about it and left the bridge. Without a word, Jim took the vacant command chair. He didn't have to say a word, Hikaru Sulu got them turned around and back on course to stop nothing short of the Apocalypse.

* * *

Not even four hours after replacing Spock as the Enterprise's Captain, Jim Kirk found himself up against an enemy who didn't frighten him nearly as much as they should have. Nero said something about the fame of _his _James T. Kirk and how Jim would never have a chance to become that kind of man, and Jim had heard enough and taken enough abuse from Nero and everyone else who ever told him he'd never amount to much more than the lawless son of an exile. Grabbing Nero by the wrist, he used a generous application of the Force to free himself and got to his feet as Nero scrambled. He coughed, rubbed his abused throat, and drew his lightsaber.

"My name's notJames Tiberius _Kirk_, you ass-hole." He snarled, bringing the amethyst blade to life in his hand, "My name is Tiberius Skywalker. You killed my father's brother, you killed my First Officer's people, you destroyed an entire world. You should frighten me, but you don't."

"Humans talk too much." Nero huffed. Jim reacted in a purely reflexive motion when Nero fired on him, deflecting the shot neatly back to the Romulan. It knocked him off his feet, and Jim ran to see if he was dead. Nope, that had been a shot to disable him, not kill him. He belted his lightsaber and got up.

"I'd hate to be you when you wake up again, Nero. That's one hell of a headache you'll have." Jim stepped over the body and stared down Ayel, who did the smart thing and ran. Jim fired one shot from his phaser and killed Ayel before he finally went in search of Captain Pike. When he got there, he made short work of freeing Pike.

"What took you so long?" his former Commanding Officer growled.

"Sorry, I ran into a setback coming to find you." He brushed the earpiece of his comlink, "Skywalker to Enterprise, get us out of here, Scotty!" A moment later, they touched down on the Enterprise. It was only after they'd dispatched of the Narada, this after offering an olive branch to the surviving crew and being denied, that Jim even dared relax. Getting home was a hell of an adventure, explaining himself to Admiral Barnett was just one more bit of fun.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Four days after he returned home, Jim was sitting at a small table in The Captain's Table with Bones and Nyota, when he suddenly had a flash-forward vision. He saw a city suspended in sunset-hued clouds, he saw Leia, and Han, and Chewie, he saw Luke. He saw them in trouble, he saw Han being tortured, Luke hanging from a gantry, tears staining a bruised face. Jolting back to the present, Jim almost knocked his chair over.

"What happened, Jim?"

"It hasn't happened yet, but my family's in trouble!"

"Where are they?"

"I don't know. I saw a city in the clouds, I saw Luke hurt, and Han being tortured."

"Well, what are we sitting here for? Let's blow this party and do something useful!" Bones slammed back his drink and they left after paying the tab. The Enterprise was undergoing intense repairs, they couldn't take her, but their X-Wings were in prime condition. Jim rallied Wolf Squadron and set off to help if he could. Hitching a ride with the USS Titania, they headed for the Outer Rim Neutral Zone. Once out of the Neutral Zone, they set course for and reached the gas-planet of Bespin. Jim saw the Hound's Tooth II speeding away from Cloud City as they closed in on the floating metropolis and sent three of his pilots after the ship.

"Follow Boba Fett and tell me what he's doing. The rest of you, keep your eyes peeled!"

"TIE-fighters, ten o'clock!" Sulu yelled. Three TIE-fighters had come to pester them, Jim took care of that problem.

"Hey, Jim, I've got the Millenium Falcon on scanners, she's heading for the bottom of the city." Bones spoke up

"Let's go." He changed course and they caught up with the freighter in no time. Jim saw something hanging off a weather-vane at the bottom of Cloud City and felt a stab of fear, "It's Luke!"

"Is he okay?"

"No, no he's not." Jim maneuvered his fighter as close as he could, "He's hurt really bad."

"Like what you saw, Jim?" Nyota was not far behind him, bless her.

"Exactly." Exactly like what he'd seen back on Earth.

* * *

Luke Skywalker heard a strange, but soothing droning sound, and registered the sound of fighters. But that wasn't a TIE-fighter. Opening his eyes, swollen by bruising, Luke made out several shapes, blurry but identifiable. X-Wings, Alliance X-Wings. But no one in the Alliance knew he was out here.

_Luke, brother, stay strong. Help is on the way._ Oh. Luke closed his eyes.

"Tiberius."

_Luke, we're all here with you, just hang on, little brother._

"Hang on?" Luke laughed bitterly, "Sure!" As he felt his grip slip more, three of the X-Wings closed on his precise position, standing guard. Luke felt the weather-vane sway and heard it groan. "Tiberius…" Suddenly, the vane broke under his weight and he tumbled from a precarious perch. But he didn't fall to a long death, he landed on the nose of one of the X-Wings. Instinctively, he clung to the smooth hull, sliding his legs around it to hold on when his one hand proved weak, resting his cheek against the warm metal.

"Luke!" he heard the pop of the canopy, the hiss as it opened, and opened his eyes as Tiberius appeared. He had a safety-tether in one hand, and clipped it to Luke's belt, "It's gonna be okay, little brother, we'll get you out of here!" He felt the idle thrum of the fighter beneath him and closed his eyes, drifting in and out of consciousness. All he wanted to do was sleep, or die. But Tiberius was there, Tiberius would protect him, Tiberius would make him whole and safe again.

* * *

The first thing Leia thought when they registered seventeen fighters on the radar was that the Empire really did want them dead, but those fighters weren't TIE, those were X-Wings. They were all clustered very oddly, some were drifting, others were pacing. She hailed them, and got her brother Tiberius.

"Tiberius! Where did you come from?"

"Earth. Luke's been hurt really bad, we need to get him to the fleet as soon as possible."

"We can take him on the Falcon, Tiberius." Leia looked over her shoulder at Chewie, who rumbled with concern.

"That's gonna take some fancy maneuvering to get up alongside those fighters."

"We have to make it work, Lando." Leia glanced at Lando Calrissian, who frowned at the fighters, "That's my brother out there." Through very careful maneuvering, in the end bringing the Falcon up under the nose of Tiberius' X-Wing, they brought Luke aboard the Millenium Falcon and put him in one of the cabins to rest. Escaping the TIE-fighters and Vader's flagship, they set off for the fleet to get Luke the help he needed.

* * *

It was a long journey back to the fleet, but Tiberius and his pilots never left them to fend for themselves. Leia was very grateful for that, more than anyone would ever know.

"So, who's this brother of yours?" Lando asked once, just out of curiosity.

"James Tiberius Kirk. He calls himself Skywalker more than Kirk these days."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! Kirk? Your brother is Captain James Tiberius Kirk?"

"Captain?"

"Yeah! Kid got a medal and everything!"

"For what?"

"Taking on Romulans, I heard. Didn't you know?"

"Uh-uh." Leia wondered how she could have missed that and decided she would celebrate with Tiberius and his pilots when it was safe.

"Yep. Damn gutsy of him, too. Killed both of the Commanding Officers, blew the ship right to Kingdom Come, and never blinked."

"Oh, Tiberius."

"Your brother's a hero, Princess!"

"Our father must be so proud of him." Leia just smiled and wondered if their father had been there when Tiberius was made a Captain and rewarded for his bravery.

* * *

Leia didn't see Tiberius or his pilots until they reached the fleet and docked with MedStar 1. Luke's hand had to be replaced with a prosthetic, and though the procedure was performed by 2-1B, a surgeon-droid, it was overseen by Doctor McCoy, Tiberius' space-phobic physician friend from Dusaria.

"It's not the real thing, but it's damn near close enough. How's it feel?" Doctor McCoy asked as Luke curled his fingers and tested reflexes.

"It feels so weird."

"It'll take some getting used to and we'll have to watch for symptoms of rejection, but I think you're good to go."

"Thanks, Doctor McCoy."

"No problem, kid. And I thought Tiberius was the only one who got himself into trouble."

"Luke, Tiberius, we're ready for take-off." Lando's voice filtered over the comlink clipped to Tiberius' belt.

"Good luck, Lando." Luke piped up.

"When we find Darth Vader and that bounty hunter, we'll contact you."

"I'll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine."

"Princess, we'll find Han, I promise." Lando's voice got softer, and Leia looked briefly at Tiberius. He didn't look at all surprised.

"Chewie, we'll be waiting for your signal." Tiberius folded his arms as he turned to the window, spine ramrod straight. Chewie's roar crackled over the pick-up and Leia had to smile. That was Wookie-speak for "Don't worry!". Leia went to the window and stood with Tiberius. He looked so sharp in his gray Class A-2 uniform. His rank-tabs were different than they had been when she had seen him on Hoth, and she knew Lando had been right. She looked at her brother, "Lando says you've been made a Captain. Is that true?"

"I don't know how word would have gotten to Imperial space so quickly, it's only been four days, but yeah. It's true." Tiberius smiled a bit sadly, "I would have brought the Enterprise, but she's up in dry-dock undergoing full-scale repairs and of no use."

"_You_ came, that's what matters, Tiberius." Leia hugged her brooding brother and wished he wasn't always so _serious_. But if anyone understood the necessity of loyalty to duty, Leia did only too well. Luke joined them and they watched the Millenium Falcon soar away from the MedStar 1 on it's mission to find Han, or at least the men who had captured him. With Chewie and Lando gone, she knew Tiberius wouldn't stick around long since Luke was on the mend. Wolf Squadron had to get back to Federation space soon. But as long as they were around, Leia would take that time to be with her family.


End file.
